I 



;,"■•■ 



~7£ : 

f" ^be innfverstt}? of Cbicaao 

I Devolution in Mission 
Administration 

As exemplified by the Legislative History of 
Five American Missionary Societies in India 

A DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS 
AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 

(DEPARTMENT OF PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 
IN THE GRADUATE DIVINITY SCHOOL) 

BY 

DANIEL JOHNSON FLEMING 



A Private Edition 

Distributed by 

The University of Chicago Libraries 



A Trade Edition is Published by 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

New York 
1916 



Devolution in Mission 
Administration 



XEbe Tllntversfts of Cbfcago 



Devolution in Mission 
Administration 

As exemplified by the Legislative History of 
Five American Missionary Societies in India 

A DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS 

AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 

(DEPARTMENT OF PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 
IN THE GRADUATE DIVINITY SCHOOL) 

BY 

DANIEL JOHNSON FLEMING 



A Private Edition 

Distributed by 

The University of Chicago Libraries 



A Trade Edition is Published by 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

New York 
1916 



Copyright, 1 916, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 



^ 



\,° 






Gill 

AP* 15 «6 



New York : 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. 
London : 2 1 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh : 100 Princes Street 



TO 

JOHN A. COLE 

WHOSE BROAD DISCERNMENT 

OF 

RELIGIOUS TRUTH, LARGE SYMPATHIES, 

AND PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY 

HAVE ENRICHED MY LIFE 

AND 

WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT MADE 

THIS STUDY LIGHT 



PREFACE 

DEVOLUTION" is used to indicate the act 
of devolving, transferring or handing 
over. In the literature of missions it is 
increasingly used to denote the transfer of 
powers, authority and responsibilities from for- 
eign Churches and Missions to indigenous or- 
ganizations. Where the process is in active opera- 
tion, as in South India, the word has a place 
in popular missionary usage. "Devolution" and 
"euthanasia of the Mission" are expressions that 
stand for attitudes and practice more and more 
necessary and prevalent amongst missionaries in 
oriental countries. 

The use of the word "native" has been avoided 
whenever this could be done without too great 
circumlocution. When a Government Memoran- 
dum for its Civil Service finds it necessary to warn 
its officers against the use of this word since it "is 
now frequently resented and should be avoided" 
(129.1) it is fitting that the Church should not err 
in this regard. The word will appear, however, in 
the quotations made from times when the word 
bore no derogatory connotation ; and there has been 
no hesitation to use it in this study where an in- 
clusive term was needed, but where the expres- 
sions "local," "indigenous," "national," or the phrase 
"the Church in the Mission Field," did not meet the 
need. We have attempted to regard the feelings 

5 



6 PREFACE 

of those who might be hurt by its use, while at the 
same time combating to some extent a tendency 
to degrade a word that has had and can still have 
the noblest of associations. 

The attempt has been made to state and to illus- 
trate some of the problems of devolution in mission 
administration from the legislative history of five 
of the largest American Societies, working in India, 
and representing the three great Church polities, 
viz.: The American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions; The American Baptist Foreign 
Mission Society; The Board of Foreign Missions 
of the Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. ; The Board 
of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in 
America; The Board of Foreign Missions of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Deep obligation is felt to the Secretaries of these 
five Societies and their Assistants for the very great 
courtesy and trust with which they placed at my 
disposal the private as well as published records of 
their offices. Without this access to primary sources 
this study would have been impossible. The actual 
sources utilized are given in the Bibliography. 

The materials for a study of the Indian Missions 
of the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions were obtained through the kind- 
ness of Rev. James L. Barton, D.D., Corresponding 
Secretary of the Board; Rev. William E. Strong, 
D.D., Editorial Secretary of the Board; and Rev. 
W. H. Cobb, D.D., Librarian of the Congregational 
Library, all in the Congregational Building, in Bos- 
ton. I am also indebted for personal letters or inter- 
views or both to Dr. James L. Barton, Dr. William 



PREFACE 7 

E. Strong, Rev. J. P. Jones, D.D., and Rev. C. 
Stanley Vaughan of the Madura Mission; and to 
Rev. R. E. Hume, D.D. and Rev. Henry Fairbank 
of the Marathi Mission. 

The sources for the study of the American 
Baptist Foreign Mission Society were obtained 
from the archives of the Society in Boston through 
the courtesy of Rev. Fred. P. Haggard, D.D., Home 
Secretary ; Rev. Arthur C. Baldwin, Foreign Secre- 
tary; and their Assistants. Full records were 
available, but because of the cessation of formally 
organized Missions as legislating bodies in 1859, 
there has not been the same possibility as in other 
Societies for securing legislative material. The 
more or less independent actions of Baptist mission- 
aries since 1859 would require for adequate treat- 
ment, not the study of one Society, but that of the 
policy pursued by some scores of separate mission- 
aries. Furthermore, according to the polity of the 
Baptist Church there is no General Assembly, or 
General Synod, or General Conference as in the 
Presbyterian, Dutch Reformed and Methodist Epis- 
copal Churches respectively, the legislation of which 
might be investigated. I am furthermore indebted 
for letters, personal interviews or both to Dr. Fred. 
P. Haggard and Dr. Arthur C. Baldwin, to 
Mr. Geo. B. Huntington, Recording Secretary; Rev. 
Thomas S. Barbour, formerly Foreign Secretary; 
Rev. D. A. W. Smith, D.D., of Burma ; Rev. M. C. 
Mason, D.D., of Assam ; Rev. Jas. M. Baker, D.D., 
of the Telegu Mission ; and Rev. Edmund F. Mer- 
riam, D.D., former Secretary of the Society and 
Historian of Baptist Missions. 



8 PREFACE 

The Board of Foreign Missions of the Presby- 
terian Church in U. S. A. has its headquarters in 
New York. From its records and from the Presby- 
terian Library of Missions in the same building, 
through the kindness of Dr. Robert E. Speer, Rev. 
Arthur J. Brown, D. D., Rev. Stanley White, D.D., 
and their Assistants, an investigation was made. I 
am especially indebted to Dr. Robert E. Speer and 
Dr. A. J. Brown from whose conversation, letters 
and published writings I have gained much insight 
into mission problems. Further help has been 
received from Rev. H. D. Griswald, Ph.D., Dr. 
S. K. Datta, Rev. K. C. Chatterjee, D.D., Rev. H. 
C. Velte, Rev. W. J. Clark, Rev. Henry Forman, 
D.D., Rev. J. J. Lucas, D.D., and others. 

The records of the Board of Foreign Missions 
of the Reformed Church in America are found 
in their Board rooms in New York. The Foreign 
Secretary, Rev. Wm. I. Chamberlain, Ph.D., by 
granting access to the records, and also by inter- 
view and letter, lent every assistance possible. 

The sources for the study of the Indian Missions 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church were secured 
from their Board rooms in New York. The inves- 
tigation was made possible through the kindness 
of Rev. William F. Oldham, D.D., and others in the 
offices. Distinct assistance was given by Mr. C. H. 
Fahs, and Rev. Thomas S. Donahugh, 

Through the kindness of Dr. John R. Mott, I 
was permitted to see the unpublished, stenographic 
records of the discussions in the eight Continuation 
Committee Conferences held in India in 1912. This 
gave a most valuable background for the more 



PREFACE 9 

detailed study. Copies of the original replies to the 
Commission II of the Edinburgh Missionary Con- 
ference of 1910 are in the hands of Dr. Arthur J. 
Brown who permitted me to see them. The Minutes 
of the Presbyterian Church in India and of the 
South India United Church were loaned by friends 
in India. 

The main sources for this study have been the 
formal legislation and declarations of Church 
courts, Foreign Mission Societies or Boards, and 
Missions. In each case these primary sources have 
been found in the original manuscript or printed 
form, and at the official headquarters of the Mis- 
sion concerned. Criticism of such modern material 
was unnecessary. The data have been organized 
about certain outstanding problems of devolution; 
but under each problem the Societies receive 
separate treatment. For the further elucidation of 
this primary material we have turned to contem- 
porary, annual, mission Reports ; to contemporary 
papers and magazines ; and to the Proceedings of 
Mission Conferences. 

For the purposes of this study the word "Mis- 
sion" is capitalized only when referring to a definite 
organization of missionaries in a given area for ad- 
ministrative purposes. Furthermore, the word 
"Church" is capitalized except when it refers to a 
local congregation. 

Explanatory notes will be found at the foot of 
the pages, while all authorities are given by refer- 
ences to the Bibliography at the end of the book, 
the whole number referring to the book, while the 
decimal part refers to the particular reference under 
the given book. D. J. F. 



CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

A Condition of Friction. — The Bodies to be Adjusted. — 
Indian Opinion as to Maladjustment 15 

Influences Working against Devolution. — The Conse- 
quences of Pioneering. — The Coming of Paternalism. — 
Lack of Expectancy. — Undeveloped Capacity for 
Organization and Self-government. — The Social Status 
of the Converts. — The Position of Missionaries as 
Superintendents. — The Temptation to Ownership. — 
Unconscious Influence Hindering Devolution. — The 
Imposition of Western Institutions and Standards 21 

The Problem — the Euthanasia of the Mission 36 

PART I.— ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

I. The Development of the Ideal of Independence. 
Have parent Churches wished to give ecclesiastical 
independence to churches on the mission field; 
and if so, when and with what development has 

this purpose been defined? 4 1 

The American Board 41 

The Baptist Foreign Mission Society 45 

The Reformed Church in America 48 

The Presbyterian Church in U. S. A 59 

The Methodist Episcopal Church 69 

II. The Ecclesiastical Relationship of Foreign 

Missionaries 80 

Introduction: A Problem of Relationship, Intra 

Muros vs. Ab Extra 80 

The Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. — General 
Assembly Action, 1836-98. — The Beginnings of a 
Change in Policy. — Implicit General Assembly 
Action in 1898. — Missionaries as Assessors. — Pres- 
ent Practice and Trend for the Future. — Summary 

of the Presbyterian Position 83 

The Reformed Church in America 97 

The American Board 97 

The Baptist Foreign Mission Society 100 

11 



12 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Methodist Episcopal Church. — Reasons why 
the Problem does not Arise for Methodists. — 
Precedent in Japan. — Deduction for India 101 

Summary 105 

III. How Ideal and Method in Regard to Ecclesias- 
tical Independence Have Been Realized in 
Practice 106 

The American Board. — Principles Enunciated by 
Dr. Anderson and the American Board. — Mission- 
ary Ecclesiastical Organizations: In the Madura 
Mission; In the Ceylon Mission. — Hesitation in 
Ordaining Pastors: In the Marathi Mission; 
In the Madura Mission; In the Ceylon Mission. — 
Indigenous Ecclesiastical Organizations Estab- 
lished: By the Marathi Mission; By the Madura 
Mission; By the Ceylon Mission. — Relation of 
Missionaries to the South India United Church . . . 106 

The American Baptist Mission Society. — Hesitation 
Over Ordaining Men. — Difficulty in Founding 
Churches. — The Stage of Autonomy Reached: 
Amongst the Telegus: Amongst the Karens. — The 
Determinative Effects of Environment 131 

The Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. — Presbyteries 
Beginning with Predominant Missionary Member- 
ship and Control. — A Synod Established. — The 
Establishment of a General Assembly. — The 
Relation of the Missionary to the Church. — Indian 
Opinion as to the Place of the Missionary. — The 
Present Trend 148 

The Reformed Church in America. — Their Classis 
Started Predominant y Missionary. — The South 
India United Church. — The Relation of Mission- 
aries to It. — Still Further Union 158 

The Methodist Episcopal Church. — Race and the 
Bishopric. — Circuits in Charge of Indians. — The 
Pastorate. — The Granting of an Annual Con- 
ference to India. — The Admission of Indians to 
Annual Conferences. — Indians in the Central Con- 
ference — Indians in General Conference. — The 
Control of Foreign Funds. — Adaptations to India's 
Needs 162 

PART II.— ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

IV. The Utilization or Dissolution of the " Mission " 177 
The Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. — The Develop- 
ment of Thought at the Home Base. — The Devel- 
opment of Thought on the Field 178 



CONTENTS 13 

PAGE 

The Reformed Church in America. — Consistent 
Insistence upon a Mission 193 

The American Board. — Missions Organized 193 

The American Baptist Mission Society. — The Forma- 
tion of Missions. — Their Abolition. — The Modern 
Trend Toward Missions 194 

The Methodist Episcopal Church. — Identification 
of Missions with Church. — The Effect on Church 
Union. — Provision for Woman's Work 198 

Summary 199 



V. The Appointment of Indians as Full Members 

of the Mission 201 

Introduction. — Influences Impelling such Appoint- 
ment: Government analogy; Sense of Injustice 
by Indians; Educational Method; The Needs of 
Missions for Advice. — Reasons against such 
Appointment: Its Demoralizing Effect; It Pre- 
vents Devolution on the Part of Societies at Home; 
It Injure? the Individual Indian; It puts off 

Self-government and Self-support 201 

Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. — Missionary 
Approval of Indian Membership in the Mission. — 
The Board's Consistent Refusal of Membership 
to Indians in the Mission. — Consultative Members 209 

The Reformed Church in America 213 

The American Board 214 

The American Baptist Mission Society 215 

The Methodist Episcopal Church 215 

Summary 217 

VI. Plans of Devolution between Mission and Church 

each Remaining Distinct 218 

The Reformed Church in America. — Foundation 
Work. — Focusing on the Problem. — The Arcot 
Plan of Devolution. — An Estimate of Its Results . 2 19 

The American Board. — The Madura Mission: Rep- 
resentative Pastors; Station Committees; The 
District Conference — Its Object, Organization, 
Personnel, Adjustments, and Results. — The 
Marathi Mission: Indians in Charge of Districts; 
Devolution in Educational Work; Missionary 
Counsellor; Joint Conferences; Joint Sessions; 
Indians on Mission Committees; Station Con- 
ferences 227 

The American Baptist Mission Society. — Devolution 
where Mission is Centric. — Devolution where the 
Church is Centric 244 



14 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Presbyterian Church in IL S. A.— -The Punjab 
Mission: Limited Transfer of Work to the Pres- 
bytery; Indians taken into Consultative Relation 
with the Mission; Indians in Independent Charge; 
Devolution in Education. — The North India 
Mission : Limited Transfer of Work to Presbytery. 
— Attempt to Arrange for Indians in Charge of 
Districts. — The Western India Mission 253 

VII. Conclusion. — The Complexity of the Missionary's 
Task. — Defect in Execution Rather than in Ideal. 
— Lack of Conclusive Thinking. — The Influence of 
Church Polity on Mission Organization. — Ten- 
dency to Centralization. — The Indigenous Church 
as End or Means. — India's Lack of the Spirit of 
Aggressive Independence. — The Ecclesiastical Rela- 
tionship of Foreign Missionaries. — Comparison of 
Methods in Administrative Devolution. — Devolu- 
tion Fundamentally a Problem in Education and 
in Personal Attitudes 264 

Chart 280 

Bibliography 281 

Index 307 



INTRODUCTION 

i. A Condition of Friction. 

TWO movements characteristic of our times 
find expression in mission policy. What 
in the economic realm has led to the organ- 
ization of men for industry and business, has in the 
realm of evangelization led to the formation of 
strong, aggressive bodies of superintendents called 
"Missions."* These by the use of western funds 
have employed large numbers of local agents in a 
way that to the growing indigenous Church seems 
almost like an exploiting of their country for Christ. 
The other trend, resulting from a better practical 
grasp of psychological principles, manifests itself in 
a general shifting of centers of gravity. In the 
realm of philanthropy it began with the passing of 
that negative view of life which considered it 
natural for humble dependents passively to receive 
good from above, and which matured in the coming 
of the more positive conception that charity only 
incidentally exists for the relief of specific ills, and 
functions best in the establishment of normal, 
healthy life. In the realm of education it resulted 
in making centric, not the claims of subject-matter, 
nor the predilections of the teacher, but the nurture 

*In general all the foreign missionaries under appointment by a 
given Board within specified territorial limits are organized into a 
definite administrative body called a "Mission." 

15 



16 INTRODUCTION 

of the child. In the realm of missions it has with- 
drawn our view from converts as mere separate 
units detached from non-Christian faiths and to 
whom a completed body of western truth and or- 
ganization was to be imparted, and has almost 
startled us by pointing out the living Body of 
Christ on the mission field — the native Church — 
with needs and problems, with a mission, a life, a 
future of its own. 

There are, then, two general types of institutions 
on the mission field — the well-developed missionary 
organizations long intrenched in the consciousness of 
the West, and the young Church constantly grow- 
ing in numbers, organization and sense of corporate 
life. If the emphasis of the Nineteenth Century 
has been on the Mission, that of the Twentieth will 
undoubtedly be upon the Church in the Mission 
Field. And yet so recently as four years ago the 
chairman of the Edinburgh Commission II — which 
more than any other one thing has made this Church 
the focal center of mission thought — ventured to 
say that even Christian missionaries, and still less 
those who look on from without, scarcely under- 
stand that we are no longer to be the leaders but 
the allies of the Church of Christ in the Mission 
Field. (131.1) 

Indian Opinion as to Maladjustment. This 
change in theoretical emphasis cannot affect mission 
policy and practice too soon. For, in India, as in 
other oriental countries, Christian leaders are show- 
ing a distinct restlessness under the regime where 
the "Mission" is centric in thought and practice. 
We shall best appreciate the urgency of this change, 



INTRODUCTION 17 

as well as secure the Indian point of view that our 
western imaginations are so slow to supply, if we 
give careful thought to the kindly criticisms of 
these leaders amongst the Christian community. In 
order that we may have the most recent as well 
as the most authoritative expression of their opinion 
we shall here confine ourselves to statements made 
in the Continuation Committee Conferences in 
India during the winter of 1912-13. The steno- 
graphic reports of these eight Conferences — existing 
in manuscript only with the exception of the pub- 
lished "Findings" — bear abundant evidence of the 
need of adjustment between foreign and local bodies 
of Christians working for India's welfare. In 
reading the statements which follow, it should be 
remembered that they have all been made by out- 
standing Indian leaders invited to sit in these im- 
portant, but very limited, Conferences, because they 
were distinguished in experience, influence and 
penetration of mind. Not only here but elsewhere 
we have quoted freely the frank judgments of 
Indian leaders, for it is of the utmost importance 
that we appreciate their point of view. 

Such men regret the denationalizing aspects of 
Christianity as it has been given to them: 

"Everything we have has been anglicized — our 
preaching, our singing, our sitting on chairs — every- 
thing.'' (122.1) 

"Over and over again we have heard from non- 
Christian lips: 'Christ we understand and adore, but 
we do not understand the Christianity presented to 
us.' I asked a friend of mine, a Hindu doctor very 
near to Christ, to come over, join us and be bap- 
tized. His reply was that the Church was foreign 



18 INTRODUCTION 

and the Indian came completely under foreign eccle- 
siastical domination. " (122.2) 

"Somehow or other as time went on, probably on 
account of refusal to encourage Indian leadership, the 
neo-Hindu and Moslem movements have come to be 
regarded as national, and the European missionary 
movement as antinational ; indeed it is openly called 
a political agency for the complete subjugation of the 
Indian peoples/' (122.2) 

"So long as the foreign missionaries keep entire con- 
trol of the affairs of the Church in India, and govern 
it in their own way instead of adapting it to suit the 
country, the Church will have a foreign stamp on it 
and the non-Christians will continue to regard it as 
an exotic or occidental religion." (122.3) 

Widespread chafing under missionary authority 
is apparent: 

"There is a strong and quite wide-spread feeling 
among the very best of us that when in this country 
we are called to the work of the Church, what we 
are in reality called to is to be helpless, automatic 
machinery in a policy in the shaping of which we have 
had no hand." (122.5) 

"The missionaries should trust their Indian workers 
with positions involving financial and administrative 
responsibility, and have a regard to their opinions. 
Let the Indian workers be made to feel their respon- 
sibilities, and the foreign missionaries regard them- 
selves as co-workers and not masters or superiors, and 
gradually take the place of advisers and not directors 
or leaders. ..." (122.6) 

"If Christian young men, who are the hope of the 
Church and the community, show a greater preference 
to join government service, it is not because they get 
higher salaries in government service; it is not the 
question of pay, it is a question of trust and confi- 
dence; it is a question of placing an Indian brother 
in the position of a European missionary with equal 



INTRODUCTION 19 

powers of initiation, organization, direction and con- 
trol. A young recruit from Europe or America is 
often placed over the heads of Indians who have turned 
gray in Mission service, who have proved their worth 
by years of faithful and successful service. Whatever 
reasons may be given in justification of the system, 
none of them are considered satisfactory by Indian 
workers, and to my mind, it is a sad sight to see men 
who have chosen and spent their life's work in a Mis- 
sion, advising their own children to choose secular pro- 
fessions and interests.' , (122.9) 

After describing the change in conditions in a 
church almost a century old, one speaker asserted : 

"This change is due to the withdrawal of foreign 
control. For eighty-five years this church has been 
dominated by foreign missions, and it had little or no 
life." (122.7) 

Three successive Indian speakers in one Con- 
ference, (122.12) under the discussion of how the 
relationship between the missionary and the Church 
could be improved, gave as their opinion: 

"The people should have more voice in the manage- 
ment of affairs." 

"The moment a congregation can look after itself, 
that moment hands off. Do not keep us minors in 
perpetuity. If we cannot have expensive pastors, then 
we will take the service ourselves. We may not have 
some of our present luxuries, but we do not need 
them." 

"In the section of the Church in India I 

think we should have more self-control, with the op- 
portunity of getting advice from the larger organiza- 
tion." 

There is a plea for trust and responsibility: 
"Help such Indian workers as have proved their 



20 INTRODUCTION 

worth in Mission service to feel that they are not 
subordinates but fellow workers: trust them as you 
trust your own countrymen, and you will not have to 
wait long before you will discover leaders amongst 
them. These very leaders will then become a strength 
to the Church which will then produce other leaders. 
Similarly trust the laity, court their co-operation, admit 
them to your fellowship, and the cause which you and 
we have equally at heart will prosper more and more." 
(122.13) 

Actual rupture is not expected, but it is at least 
a matter of thought sometimes : 

"It looks to me as if, in West India at least, nothing 
short of an actual revolt on the part of Indian Chris- 
tians is likely to give an indigenous Church or 
Churches. . . . The cord that binds the Indian 
Church to its spiritual preceptors may snap at any 
time by unforeseen circumstances. God forbid that 
Indian Christians should blossom into manhood with- 
out receiving the benediction of their spiritual fathers." 
(122.15) 

There is a yearning for a chance to express their 
own life: 

"I do not think there can be any two opinions that 
there ought to be changes to adapt the Church to the 
people more fully. We want a liturgy that will appeal 
to the people; we want Indian Church architecture; 
we want an Indian Church ritual. We want to bring 
about conditions under which it will be possible to 
develop a national Church." (122.16) 

Personally I shall never forget the way in which 
one experienced and honored delegate to the Pan jab 
Conference told us that the Indian Church was like 
David upon whom SauTs armour had been put; 
his plea was that the Church might be left more 



INTRODUCTION 21 

free from western methods and institutions until, 
without the burden of assimilating the overwhelm- 
ing amount of new material, they might have a 
chance to do constructive thought for themselves. 

We do not at this point attempt to show to what 
extent such opinions are justified, but they must 
be taken seriously; they show that the change in 
awakened national consciousness that has been 
sweeping over the whole oriental world has long 
since reached India, and is demanding more free- 
dom, more responsibility, more opportunity, in 
Church as well as in state. 

2. Influences Working Against Devolution. 

Let us see in some detail the occasions which 
led to this preeminence on the part of the Mission 
and which hindered devolution to the relatively 
obscure Church. It will be seen that under the 
conditions that prevailed only men of the most far- 
reaching wisdom and tenacious ideals could from 
the first make the germinal Church central in their 
thought and work. In doing this there is no intent 
of allocating blame ; acknowledgements of too great 
dominance on the one side and of too great passivity 
on the other are unhesitatingly given in the com- 
mon effort to discover the best solution for the 
present. 

The Consequences of Pioneering. The early 
decades of mission work were years of pioneering. 
Languages had to be mastered, literature created, 
stations occupied, institutions built, and in general, 
foundations laid. One word would sum up the 



m INTRODUCTION 

task — evangelization. Furthermore, at the begin- 
ning the Indian Church did not exist ; that body, to 
which powers and responsibilities might be devolved, 
had still to be established. Usually years passed 
before the first convert would be secured, and often 
decades before the first man would be ordained. It 
was inevitable, therefore, that strong aggressive per- 
sonalities and organizations of such should develop, 
used to thinking and acting from their own stand- 
point. 

The Coming of Paternalism. When finally 
converts were secured, to the characteristics of the 
pioneer stage were added those of paternalism — 
that most disastrous mistake of Indian Missions. 
Converts came singly ; and owing to the rigours of 
caste these were usually poor, destitute and home- 
less. Real sympathy, the possession in Mission 
funds of comparative wealth, a naive imagination 
that these poor people suffer under their privations 
as the Westerner would under like conditions, the 
gathering of dependent converts about the Mission 
residence for protection and help — these things led 
to the introduction of what may be called the ma-bap 
or paternal stage in Indian Missions. 

Surrounded ofttimes by plague and famine, con- 
fronted by converts absolutely cut off from help 
or means of livelihood in their old community, and 
touched by an economic condition which even yet 
makes ten dollars the annual per capita income in 
India (130.2), it was small wonder that the mis- 
sionary felt forced to become a special providence 
if the convert was to exist. Present-day literature 
on self-support is full of instances of the paternal- 



INTRODUCTION 23 

ism of those early days. For example, fifty years 
after a certain Society was established, the boys of 
its Boarding School not only had all their expenses 
met by the Mission, but were also provided with 
monthly pocket money, and an allowance while at 
home on vacation. (113.6) 

The heritage of this old custom of subsidizing 
Mission pupils has still to be combated and the wise 
use of foreign money in general still forms one of 
the most difficult practical problems facing the 
missionary every day of his work. That the old 
paternalism has not disappeared is indicated in the 
following quotations from two well-known and 
experienced Indian Christian leaders : 

"The people have long been taught in practice, 
though not in words, that it is more blessed to receive 
than to give. The Mission finds everything for the 
convert — his food and clothing, his education and 
employment, his wife and her wants, his church and 
his pastor, sometimes his debts also, not to speak of 
his funeral expenses. Why should he subscribe towards 
his pastor's support? Let the Mission pay his pastor, 
says he. But let the Mission go and its benefactions 
vanish altogether. Fresh life will then flow into the 
church. New responsibilities will be felt and enjoyed. " 
( 1 13.4) And again: "The missionary is the Indian 
Christian's chequebook. To a great extent this has 
been the bane of my community. They are still in 
leading strings, even the most developed and manly 
individuals among them. We have all the qualities 
of the creeper and none of the trunk. It is time a 
halt was made in the policy of Missions. ,, (47.1) 

"It is not in fallen human nature to give for one- 
self, when somebody else is good enough to give for 
one. I do not blame Christians in Europe and 
America for their gifts. To do so would be really 



24 INTRODUCTION 

ungrateful. And yet I, for one, do sincerely wish thai 
our Churches should receive less and less. If European 
and American Christian brothers and sisters want to 
help India with their substance, let them by all means 
do so. But there are a thousand and one ways of 
helping India. Let them not help those who can help 
themselves. ,, (113.5) 

The Lack of Expectancy. In practically all 
Indian missions* this paternal attitude was carried 
over into church life. Missionaries for years acted 
as pastors of congregations and could with difficulty 
be convinced that they need not prolong this ab- 
normal relationship. (7.10) The foreign purse was 
drawn on for church buildings, furniture and repair 
and generally for the salary of all church as well 
as mission agents. 

In the early decades of mission work those small 
but significant first contributions of the people for 
the support of the work were entirely overlooked 
in reports. In fact it is the judgment of one of 
our foremost mission administrators that probably 
few, if any, missionaries or Board officers in the 
early days of mission work thought it possible that 
the people they were seeking to Christianize would 
ever pay any appreciable part of the cost of the 
evangelization of their land. About 1850 missionary 
reports written in India begin to make allusions to 
instances where the people themselves were in- 
vited to make contributions.*!* But it was most sur- 

*Note the brilliant exception in the work of American Baptists 
among the Karens of Burmah. cf. 128. 

t From an early date the Annual Reports of the Missionary- 
Boards of the Methodist and Dutch Reformed Churches gave one 
column of their statistical tables to contributions received on the 
field. But it was not until 1880 that the Methodists analyzed 
these receipts in four or five columns. (97.2) In 1884 the 



INTRODUCTION 25 

prisingly late in mission effort before the Boards 
in America felt that a statistical record of this sign 
of growth in power to give on the part of the 
Indian Church was a matter of sufficient importance 
and interest to their constituency to justify tabu- 
lating it in their general report.* 

The Undeveloped Capacity for Organization 
and Self-Government. India's village economy 
with its panchayatf system constitutes an out- 
standing instance of community self-government. 
During the long centuries when invasion after in- 
vasion swept over the surface, the village organiza- 
tion was one of the great forces which held the 
social fabric together. Evidence of another kind 
of organization is found in caste. Furthermore, 
India can point to empire builders like Asoka and 
Sivaji; to organizing philosophers like Sankara and 
Ramanuja; to modern sects such as the Brahmo 

Baptists began to give Indian contributions analyzed under four 
heads; (23.1) but this was not done by the Presbyterian Board 
until 1904. (50.2) The American Board did not note native con- 
tributions at all until 1888, although for several years before such 
contributions from all their fields amounted to over $20,000. (1.3) 
Even yet it gives them in one column only, from which it is 
impossible to judge to what extent the Indian Church is giving; 
all deductions from it on this score would be fallacious, since 
a very large percentage of this total may be given as fees by non- 
Christians for educational and medical work. Certainly it is 
true that in connection with the Presbyterian Missions in India 
80% to 90% of the total receipts come from such sources. (50.1) 

* As a matter of fact, in the Madura Mission of the American 
Board we find in 1856 and fairly constantly thereafter a record 
of the contributions by Indians. (5.10) Their oldest mission in 
India, the Marathi, in 1868 added for the first time two columns to 
their statistical tables in order that they might note progress in 
the ordination of pastors and contributions by Indians which by 
that time were amounting to Rs.1645. (4.10) In the Presby- 
terian report on India for 1866 a statistical review of her mis- 
sions for thirty-three years is given with no mention of organized 
churches, self-support or Indian contributions. (50.3) Contribu- 
tions received in India do appear in 1869. (50.4) 

t Originally and by derivation, rule by "five" (panch) ; in general, 
rule by a group of elders. 



26 INTRODUCTION 

Samajh and the virile, militant Arya Samajh; and 
to a long list of men now in important government 
posts. 

And yet India is universally held to be lacking 
in power for initiative and organization. Certainly 
this was the judgment, though bitterly resented by 
Indians, of the Public Service Commission recently 
appointed by the British Government. (115.1) This 
may be accounted for, not by lack of capacity, but 
by the absence of that progressive social plexus in 
which self-direction and ability to carry responsi- 
bility are developed. 

In modern industry, also, except in the cotton 
trades, the original impulse, capital and directive 
energy have come almost wholly from abroad. Men 
with administrative ability and technical knowledge 
who form the backbone of industrial life in Europe 
and America are largely lacking in India. (125.1) 
We see the same tendency also amongst the 30,000 
students of that land whose great ambition is to 
secure a post under their foreign government. 

Analogous to this spirit of dependence manifest- 
ing itself in the political and industrial world was 
a condition in the religious realm. The missiona- 
ries found agents not only willing but eager to 
serve under a foreign Church. The spirit of in- 
dependence which in Japan demanded and secured 
ecclesiastical freedom from one foreign Church 
after another has been almost lacking in India. In 
the few instances of the reorganization of congre- 
gations into independent Indian Churches, thus far, 
the initiative has come predominantly from for- 
eigners. This illustrates one of the discouraging 



INTRODUCTION 27 

things about work in India. For while the unrest 
exhibited in a previous section is one fact to be 
considered, the lack of a spirit of aggressive inde- 
pendence is also present and acknowledged. We 
find, for example, the Indian Moderator of a recent 
General Assembly saying: 

"Let me mention that not a few of us, pastors and 
teachers, are unwilling, not unable, to take the initia- 
tive in Church matters that come before us. We are 
unwilling to do our own thinking. We are willing 
to let others do our thinking for us. We are willing 
to be feeble when we ought to be manly. We prefer 
to be led when we ought to take the lead." (116.1) 

Such attitudes on the part of India's most capable 
men are no real excuse for building up elaborate 
machinery about the Mission as center. They do, 
however, enable us to understand how the devolu- 
tion of powers and responsibilities to the Indian 
Church was hindered and delayed. 

The Social Status of the Converts. If from the 
beginning missionaries found the capacity for 
leadership thus undeveloped amongst India's more 
fortunate classes, how much more is this true of 
those submerged masses from which the bulk of the 
Church in India has been formed. These have 
been trained to follow blindly the fakirs and sadhus 
who travel among them and they have not been 
schooled to independent religious thought and activ- 
ity. Socially, industrially, religiously they have 
leaned upon others for centuries. If not always 
actually serfs they have been practically such in at- 
titude of mind so that an Indian, who knows and 
loves and yearns for the Indian Church as for- 



28 INTRODUCTION 

eigners never did, tenderly calls it "the Church of 
Slaves." Now a certain habit of thought be- 
comes fixed in each stratum of society when it is 
permeated with the spirit of caste so that in family, 
in industry, in civil life, in religion, in everything 
class status dominates relations. To this lowest 
class the attitude of the led, the ruled, the depen- 
dent is mediated by every social influence, and it 
is the community "feel" — not simply a Church's 
need for leaders — that counts. When, therefore, 
it is realized that ninety per cent of the Christians 
in India come from this depressed class (130.1) one 
can see against what heavy odds the work must 
proceed which looks toward a thoroughly inde- 
pendent, self-contained and self-propagating Indian 
Church capable of bearing the load now carried 
by Missions. 

The Position of Missionaries as Superintend- 
ents. The employment of a large Indian agency 
subordinate to and dependent upon the foreign mis- 
sionary had been the prevailing policy of Missions 
in India. The poverty of the people, the relatively 
far greater resources of the Mission, the acceptance 
as almost axiomatic that the creation of such a 
large class of Indian agents under foreign control 
was wise, the willingness of converts to be so em- 
ployed, — such conditions developed a large mission- 
ary superintendency. There are those who regard 
this as another great mistake in India, but their 
voices have been few and unheeded. The result is 
that for the most part the foreign missionary in 
India is an overseer looking after work to see that 
it is properly done. Under him are "Classes" and 



INTRODUCTION 29 

"Sub-classes" of catechists, colporteurs, teachers, 
licentiates, preachers, Bible-women, and workers 
of various sorts, each with its graded rate of pay. 
Under such conditions there is seldom the feeling 
of absolute equality on the part of the Indian and 
ideal relations are almost impossible. Certainly in 
practice this has been true. 

The significance of this situation for our prob- 
lem of devolution is apparent. Here is a strong, 
relatively wealthy, highly organized foreign work 
gathering into itself the strongest Indian workers 
and whatever prestige attaches to Christianity; 
beside it is the weak, poverty stricken Indian 
Church. If Christianity is to become indigenous 
the powers and responsibilities of these "Missions" 
must devolve to the Indian Church as such. 

On this question an Indian leader expresses his 
opinion as follows : 

"For generations past Indian Christians and Indian 
Christian Churches have been playing the part of mere 
spectators. As in a game of cricket or football there 
are hundreds of spectators engaged in merely wit- 
nessing or watching the game while only a few take 
part, so Indian Christians and Indian Christian 
Churches have been merely lookers-on. Having had 
no share or part in active administration and organiza- 
tion they have well nigh lost the swadeshi* instinct. 
As in the physiological world so in the moral and 
spiritual; the power that might have been developed 
under favourable circumstances has not been called 
into use, and therefore almost lost. 

"Missionaries have at times remarked that they 
and their organizations are but the scaffolding of the 
Indian Church, and that as the building rises the scaf- 

*Literally "own-country" i.e., patriotic. 



30 INTRODUCTION 

folding would gradually disappear. True, but the 
indigenous building has scarcely risen to view during 
all these years for the simple reason that the scaffold- 
ing is drawing all attention and the building is lost 
sight of. The fault has not been entirely with the 
Indian Churches. They have been taught to admire 
the ornate and ornamental scaffolding, and to look 
upon that as the permanent structure. Like the dis- 
ciples of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration they 
have in effect said, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here.' 
It is not every non-Indian missionary that has had, or 
has, the grace to decrease in order that Indian Chris- 
tians or the Indian Christian Church may increase. 
If in the past the Indian Christian Church has not 
risen to independence it is largely due to the subordi- 
nate and in some cases subservient position which the 
Church has had to occupy. There has been no room 
for the development of the swadeshi spirit." (47.9) 

The Temptation to Ownership. All too indica- 
tive of unconscious domination there arose phrases 
— of recent years happily on the decrease — which 
rankled amongst Indian Christians. They saw in 
reports expressions such as "our own Indian 
Christians," "the authority of the Mission," "my 
catechists," "my schools," "mission churches," 
"mission clergy," "mission helpers." This termi- 
nology was obnoxious because to the Indian it im- 
plied that all of these were regarded as so much 
property by the foreign agency. Even yet to a 
reader of mission reports it is a refreshing surprise 
to come across Indian pastors, catechists and evan- 
gelists grouped under the head of "our co-workers" 
or "our fellow laborers." (5.2) 

This more or less unconscious assumption of 
ownership, properly stigmatized in a recent article 



INTRODUCTION 31 

by the Bishop of Madras as the "serf and cattle 
theory of the native Christian" (114.1) undoubt- 
edly is one of the reasons why Indians do not with 
more spontaneous joy support their institutions. 
They are not made to feel that the work is really 
theirs. 

Unconscious Influences Hindering Devolution. 
Every influence of inertia and suggestion tends to 
fix the superintending, dominating attitude in the 
missionary toward the Indian. It is easy for West- 
erners of a masterful organizing type to continue 
work which perchance they can do better but which 
should long since have been turned over to Indians. 
Missionaries show their oneness with the rest of 
humanity when possession of authority leads to 
the desire — unconscious though it be — to retain it. 

In any field it is hard enough for missionaries 
to free themselves from a domineering and auto- 
cratic attitude which seems — even when falsely 
based — to be a natural characteristic of western 
races. But missionaries, in India especially, are 
played upon by what in another connection Com- 
payre calls collaborateurs occultes — innumerable 
social forces that tell upon the life moulding it in 
spite of principles and reason. In India the white 
man is a Sahib; every one makes way for the wearer 
of the sun-hat; people salaam; policemen salute; 
the many little symbols of a submissive attitude in- 
stilled by decades of British rule are exhibited to- 
ward the missionary without the asking. All the 
more does he find himself surrounded by sug- 
gestions of superiority when he mingles with those 
classes from which most of the converts have come. 






32 INTRODUCTION 

Small wonder is it that with the passing of the 
years, unless it has been consciously and prayerfully 
resisted, little ways of arrogance and patronizing 
superiority manifest themselves. 

Many things in the mission organization itself 
tend to mediate this attitude to the young recruit 
from abroad. After a year of language study he 
is very frequently put in superintending charge of 
capable, experienced and mature Indian workers. 
Not infrequently the mission residence to which he 
is assigned adjoins what is technically called a 
"Christian Village" although the evils of this par- 
ticular type of patriarchism in brick and mortar 
were denounced by Rufus Anderson sixty years 
a S°- (7) Many things in the institutions and or- 
ganizations and precedents of mission practice were 
worked out before the "unrest in India" suddenly 
awakened both ruler and missionary to the baldness 
of some assumptions long unchallenged. 

The Imposition of Western Institutions and 
Standards. Missionaries seem to have been un- 
consciously affected by an old rationalistic notion 
that whenever an institution is judged rational it 
is applicable to all peoples in all times and places 
and is necessary for the development of any civili- 
zation. The assumption without discussion that 
that form of congregational organization which we 
ordinarily call a "Church" would be suited to India 
may not surprise us — although the Church even in 
its simplest form found no parallel in Indian insti- 
tutions. But besides this there was the naive carry- 
ing over of full-fledged, elaborately representative 
ecclesiastical systems which were the outgrowth of 



INTRODUCTION 33 

an entirely different economic and political situa- 
tion. At the Bombay Decennial Conference, Kali 
Charan Banurji said: 

"Foreign Churches should not burden Indian Chris- 
tians with the demands of their own matured organi- 
zations, but leave them free to start from simple 
beginnings and to educate themselves into complex 
developments such as might come naturally to them 
under the leading of the Divine Spirit. The attempt 
to make them begin at the end is responsible for their 
ill success hitherto in reaching the end. . . . Indian 
Christians may not be ripe yet for the organization 
in its ultimate integrity, and it is only fitting that 
they should be permitted gradually to work their way 
into it. The educative regime has the divine impress, 
and many needful purposes may be subserved by allow- 
ing Indian Christians duly to grow into an organiza- 
tion, instead of overburdening them with a cumbrous 
organization when they can ill aiford to bear it." 
(119.1) 

Again the conception of pastors on fixed money 
salaries was transferred with no questionings. In 
fact our modern missionary century had more than 
half gone before missionaries realized that the ex- 
pectation that Indian churches should establish fixed 
salaries for their ministers really originated from 
custom in western churches and grew out of west- 
ern conditions. It came as a distinct discovery 
(which in practice added greatly to the contribu- 
ting capacity of the church) that their Indian minis- 
ter could think in terms of voluntary service, or 
of eggs, chickens, rice, and other commodities more 
common than coin to him. 

Furthermore, the essence of Christianity has not 
been distinguished by many a missionary from 



34 INTRODUCTION 

ideas with which from childhood it has been asso- 
ciated, viz., an occidental type of correctness in 
manners as well as morals; a general diffusion of 
education ; a certain economic level of living, below 
which one may not fall ; a certain position given to 
women — in short with civilization, and hence there 
has been restless haste to impart these things along 
with Christianity. Already our civilization has in- 
troduced standards of expenditure and luxury 
which make it difficult for Christianity to go for- 
ward on the economic levels of oriental nations. 
While undoubtedly the sharing of our best in 
every way is an essential expression of our Chris- 
tianity, these things are not necessarily a part of 
the essence of Christianity which they need at 
once to accept. 

Still another assumption made this attempt at 
wholesale transfer natural, viz., that ready-made 
ideas could be absorbed. In this, however, they 
were simply embodying a widespread educational 
mistake of their time. We are slowly learning that 
even though some of the customs and institutions 
which we take into India do represent the highest 
moral judgment or practical wisdom of the West, 
yet the ideal for a young Church, just as much as 
for a child, is that it should be creative and grow 
from within. 

Even when a large paid agency, expensive insti- 
tutions and complex organizations are recognized as 
external to India's present life and resources, yet 
in the minds of most Westerners such things are 
demanded on account of the urgency of the mis- 
sionary enterprise. How dare we patiently wait for 



INTRODUCTION 35 

a small Church to grow from within when India's 
unreached million's call loudly from without! 
Hence for the sake of immediate results we have 
imposed ideals of efficiency, grades of agency and 
an organized aggressiveness that experience demon- 
strates is only commensurate with western re- 
sources. And in this restlessness at letting the in- 
digenous Church move on in growth from its own 
level we have postponed for decades the realization 
of a self-supporting Church. 

In connection with the consideration of these 
imported methods and machinery, we do well to 
ponder the solution of the dilemma raised by the 
difference in economic standards between East and 
West as given by an Indian mind — a missionary of 
the Indian National Missionary Society: 

"We feel that missionary work in India, even when 
attempted by her own sons and daughters, is lament- 
ably limited by the amount of money available. The 
Indian Christians are on the whole poor and for many 
years more will remain poor. Hence Indian Chris- 
tians who desire to work for Christ must either place 
themselves under foreign control, which is distasteful, 
or else be content to carry on only meagre efforts, 
whether evangelical or educational or medical, with 
the necessarily limited support which their own people 
can give. Is there no escape from such a situation? 
Is not India in need of a practical demonstration of 
the great truth that it is not by money power, by ex- 
pensive establishments and highly paid agencies that 
she is going to be attracted, but by the Christlike 
lives of individuals going about in utter simplicity and 
love, revolutionizing society and the world by the great 
dynamic of a consecrated life of service lived in com- 
munion with God, rather than by material power?" 
(111.4) 



36 INTRODUCTION 



3. The Problem — the Euthanasia of 
the Mission. 

It is evident, therefore, that the very success of 
missionary forces in raising up a Church rooted in 
the soil of each land brings with it what is one of 
the most difficult problems of modern Mission ad- 
ministration — viz., the adjustment of relations be- 
tween the Missions and home Church on the one 
side and the growing, indigenous Church on the 
other. It is universally admitted that missionary 
operations are not to be permanent ; but the question 
how they may withdraw still, for the most part, 
has to be worked out. Should mission-founded 
Churches be independent from the beginning? How 
in actual practice shall they be kept in touch with 
historical, ecumenical, vital Christianity? How can 
the missionaries keep from enlarging the Mission 
as though it were the permanent body? While 
academically every missionary would probably agree 
that complete autonomy is the final goal, what steps 
should be taken now? In trying to transfer re- 
sponsibility from the Mission to the Church, with 
what departments of work should one begin ? Should 
the Church be encouraged to take over for a given 
area all kinds of work now carried on by the 
Mission ? Or should a division be made, the Church 
undertaking the evangelistic and pastoral work, 
while the Mission engages in education and medical 
enterprises? When an independent Church has 
once been established, what should be the relation 
of the missionary organization to it? Should the 



INTRODUCTION 37 

two go on independently, or should the Mission 
gradually withdraw, or should they co-operate? 
Such are some of the questions that must be 
faced in adjusting or transferring responsibility. 
Amongst them will be found some of the most 
pressing problems of present-day missionary states- 
manship with their call for a high degree of fore- 
sight, patience and wisdom. 

It is to the historical consideration of this prob- 
lem of the devolution of powers and responsibili- 
ties from foreign Mission to indigenous Church 
that this study addresses itself. It will be seen that 
many attempts have been made to solve some por- 
tion of this vast problem. Many of these attempts 
have been faltering and without clear vision of 
the path ahead. But the struggles of those who 
have led the way may help others to estimate the 
course which they must ultimately follow. A view 
of the complexity of the problem of devolution as 
it exists to-day in mid-solution will enable us to 
sympathize the more prayerfully and intelligently 
with those — both Indian and foreign — who work 
for the establishment of His Kingdom on this 
earth. 



PART ONE 

ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEAL OF 
INDEPENDENCE 

ANY devolution of ecclesiastic power and 
responsibility from Churches engaged in 
foreign mission work must be funda- 
mentally influenced as to methods and extent by 
their controlling aim; whether this is to build up 
local branches of the parent Church conceived as 
Catholic or to establish independent national 
Churches. 

This aim has not always been clearly defined, but 
while in some cases it has been settled without 
struggle but with development, in others years 
passed before it became even an issue and in at 
least one notable case, up to the present time, mis- 
sion policy in this respect has never been formulated. 
It is the object of this chapter to answer the fol- 
lowing question: Have parent Churches wished to 
give ecclesiastical independence to Churches on the 
mission field ; and, if so, when and with what 
development has this purpose been defined? 

i. American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions. 

Congregational Polity. By Congregational 
theory every local church has complete independ- 

41 



42 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

ency. Thus no claim to ecclesiastical authority over 
mission-formed churches could be made by the 
planting Church. 

Gradual Formulation of Theory for Foreign 
Field. But while this was the inevitable corollary 
of their polity in America it was a generation after 
the beginning of the work of the American Board 
before it found definite formulation with reference 
to the foreign field. This was natural; for in the 
early stages when converts were few and churches 
almost non-existent the emphasis was upon evan- 
gelism. However, the abundant literature of the 
American Board enables us to see how the con- 
ception of an independent Church developed. There 
is a glimmer of this in the plan presented by the 
Prudential Committee in 1836 which was "by the 
Board deliberately and solemnly approved and 
adopted." In part it reads: 

"The following statements are made for the pur- 
pose: first, of showing that in extending the opera- 
tions of the Board among unevangelized nations, refer- 
ence is had to a system, and to great ultimate results. 
The institutions and influence which we observe to be 
so effectual, under God . . . are the preaching of 
the Gospel, education, and the press. The preaching 
of the Gospel is still and ever will be the grand 
means of the conversion of men. The leading object 
of the Board, therefore, is to supply the millions em- 
braced within the contemplated range of their oper- 
ations with the preached Gospel. . . . Nor do they 
expect to furnish any foreign nation with preachers 
for many continuous generations. Heathen nations 
must be rendered independent of Christendom for their 
religious teachers as soon as possible. In no other 
way can this be done than by endeavoring to raise up 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 43 

men in every place, men born and educated in the 
several countries, who may be ordained as pastors of 
the churches. The plans of the Board are formed 
with a view to this result." (ii.i) 

In this statement which was drawn up with 
definite reference to a "system and to great ulti- 
mate results" we do not find that dominant em- 
phasis on church formation which twenty years 
later was to be one of the three great reconstruc- 
tive messages of the Board's deputation to India. 

In 1848 a clearer statement appears in an official 
document of the Prudential Committee: viz., "The 
religious liberty which we ourselves enjoy is equally 
the birthright of Christian converts in every part 
of the heathen world on coming into the spiritual 
kingdom of Jesus Christ, which they may claim 
as soon as they are prepared for it, just as Ameri- 
can freedom is the birthright of our own children. 
The right of our children is not infringed by that 
independence and control which they need during 
their infancy and childhood." (1.10) 

But the full enunciation of the principles of inde- 
pendence and self-help in native Churches was to 
come later. In 1851 Henry Venn, that great British 
missionary statesman and Secretary of the Church 
Missionary Society from 1841 to 1872, gave cur- 
rency to language whose thought has had in- 
creasing formative influence ever since. In a min- 
ute on the ordination of native ministers, he says : 

"Regarding the ultimate object of a mission, viewed 
under its ecclesiastical aspect, to be the settlement 
of a native Church under native pastors upon a self- 
supporting system, it should be borne in mind that 



44 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

the progress of a mission mainly depends upon the 
training up and the location of native pastors, and 
that, as it has been happily expressed, the 'euthanasia 
of a mission' takes place when a missionary, surrounded 
by well-trained native congregations under native 
pastors, is able to resign all pastoral work into their 
hands, and gradually relax his superintendence over 
the pastors themselves, till it insensibly ceases, and so 
the mission passes into a settled Christian community. 
Then the missionary agency should be transferred to 
the 'regions beyond.' " (iii.i) 

A few years later Rufus Anderson, that greatest 
of American constructive missionary statesmen and 
Secretary of the American Board from 1832-1866, 
embodied views matured through long corre- 
spondence, study and visitation of mission fields in 
one of the great documents of mission literature. 
It is found in the Annual Report of the American 
Board for 1856 and entitled "Outline of Mission 
Policy." We will quote only one small section : 

"If we resolve the end of missions into its simplest 
elements, we shall find that it embraces ( 1 ) the con- 
version of lost men, (2) organizing them into 
churches, (3) giving those churches a competent native 
ministry, and (4) conducting them to the stage of 
independence and (in some cases) of self-propagation. 
Occasionally the labors of a missionary Society will 
terminate when its churches shall have become self- 
subsistent; but generally it must carry its work to the 
point of reliable self-development. Then, and not till 
then, may it advance to 'regions beyond/ " (1.2) 

From this decade on the phrase "self-governing, 
self-supporting, and self-propagating" appears with 
ever increasing frequency as embodying the ideal 
for the Church on the mission field. 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 45 

2. American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. 

The Baptist Polity Applied to Mission 
Churches. The Baptists also have ever believed in 
the entire and absolute independence of each par- 
ticular local church. Every church of Christ is ac- 
cording to their polity capable of self-government, 
and is wholly independent of all other churches, per- 
sons and bodies of men whatever, in the adminis- 
tration of its own affairs. Acknowledging no higher 
authority under Christ than itself each church 
recognizes that all ecclesiastical action begins with 
itself and with itself terminates. (38.1) Such 
churches will maintain friendly and associational 
intercourse with all of like faith and order, but 
to such an "Association" they are in no way eccle- 
siastically subject either in America or abroad. 

The irenic spirit of this polity is brought out 
in a letter written in 1806 by the first Secretary of 
the Baptist Missionary Society to Mr. Ward in 
which he says : 

"The influence which a missionary in a district 
will have over the church or churches in that district 
will not be authoritative but persuasive, not official but 
natural; that is, the mere influence which arises from 
superior wisdom and experience. If it should so hap- 
pen that a native pastor should have more wisdom and 
rectitude than the missionary of his district, he will 
have just as much right to advise and admonish him 
as the missionary." (46.10) 

The Northern Baptist Convention, of which the 
American Baptist Foreign Mission Society is a 
co-operating society, embodied this conception in 



46 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

the preamble to its constitution in declaring its 
belief "in the independence of the local church, 
and in the purely advisory nature of all denomina- 
tional organizations composed of representatives of 
the churches." (37.1) Put more broadly the em- 
phasis on the principle long held as sacred by 
Baptists — viz., that of the direct personal relation 
and accountability of the individual to God, will 
undoubtedly be one of their contributions to the 
Church in India. 

Baptist procedure is so fixed in this regard that 
if any Association in India wished to exclude mis- 
sionaries or if any local church objected to a mis- 
sionary's authority so that it came to an issue, 
there would be no doubt as to the outcome. This 
was illustrated in a recent isolated instance of where 
the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society very 
nearly withdrew one of its missionaries for try- 
ing to override the authority of the local church. 

Thus technically each Indian church constituted 
according to Baptist polity is from its beginning 
self-governing and independent of external control. 
It has a right to act without reference to mission- 
aries and even against their very wish, although, 
as we shall see, it is generally not in a position to 
exercise this right in practice. For while theoretic- 
ally the control exercised by the missionary is 
advisory, it can become coercive when the issue 
seems to the individual missionary to justify the 
withdrawal of financial aid upon which such uni- 
versal dependence is placed by the infant church. 

Church Organization Not Consciously Essen- 
tial at First. While, as we have seen, it would 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 47 

be impossible for Baptists to think of the Indian 
Church as other than independent ecclesiastically, 
yet there have been long periods in India when the 
Church as an organization to be set up did not 
enter very insistently into consciousness. In fact 
in the original Constitution of the American Bap- 
tist Missionary Union (predecessor of the present 
A.B.F.M.S.) we find the statement: 

"The single object of this Union shall be to diffuse 
the knowledge of the religion of Jesus Christ by means 
of missions throughout the world. " (23.2) 

In other words evangelization — not Church for- 
mation — absorbed the thought and work of the 
Union and its missionaries. 

But as time went on and converts were secured 
the essential place of the Church as an organization 
in the evangelization of India became more apparent. 
We find, therefore, this original single object more 
explicitly defined in the Revised Regulations of the 
American Baptist Missionary Union, adopted in 
1859. Act. XVIII expands it into five more ex- 
plicit aims : 

"That the oral communication of the Gospel is the 
first great business of missionaries, to be attended and 
followed by the formation of churches, the translation 
and circulation of the Scriptures, the training and ordi- 
nation of a native ministry, and the extension of the 
missionary work by the aid of native laborers." (46.4) 

Further experience, as we shall see, showed the 
Union that it would have to emphasize the matter 
of church formation on the field. So in the 
"Manual" for the use of missionaries, issued in 
1898, we find "the preaching of the gospel of Jesus 



48 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

Christ in order to make disciples is the main ob- 
ject of missions. . . . Evangelistic work in- 
cludes . . . the formation of intelligent, self- 
supporting Christian churches on the field. " 
Amongst the ends to be sought in educational work 
are put: The training of Christian converts for 
intelligent recognition and discharge of their obli- 
gations as members of the Church of Christ ; . . . 
the preparation of evangelists, Bible-women, and 
other lay workers for the most effective service; 
the training of a native ministry. (22.2) Thus 
three out of the five formulated ends of missionary 
education were contributive to Church life and 
growth. 

For the best and most complete formulation of 
Baptist missionary policy we turn to the "Review 
of Conditions and Policies of the Missionary 
Union issued by their Foreign Secretary, Dr. 
Thomas S. Barbour, in 1907. Amongst five "funda- 
mental ideals" there given we find two as follows : 

"Early establishment of local churches — the divinely 
constituted agency for Christian nurture and develop- 
ment of efficiency in Christian service. 

"Discharge of genuine functions of the Church by 
the local church — self administration, reception and 
dismissal of members, observance of the ordinances, 
maintenance and support of worship. Pastors should 
be directly related to churches and not to the mission 
body." (33.1) 

3. The Reformed Church in America. 

A Seven- Year Struggle. With Churches of 
other than congregational polity the granting of 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 49 

ecclesiastical independence to mission-founded 
Churches must be a definitely raised issue. For 
American leadership in this we turn to the Re- 
formed Church in America. In order to under- 
stand her policy in India it is necessary to review a 
most significant seven-year struggle in connection 
with the mission of the Reformed Church at Amoy, 
China. For the principle worked out there prac- 
tically settled the attitude of the Reformed Church 
to the problem of independent Churches on its mis- 
sion fields, and the records frequently show that 
both the General Synod of the Reformed Church 
and its Mission in China were conscious that they 
were setting a precedent for India — possibly for 
the mission policy of all the Churches of the Pres- 
byterian order in all parts of the world. (79.1) 
Furthermore it furnishes one of the earliest modern 
cases of the establishment of a separate autonomous 
Church on non-Christian soil. Let us therefore 
see the fundamental problem that faced those men 
— men of strong convictions on both sides — from 
1857 to 1864. 

Briefly the situation (89.2) was as follows. The 
Amoy missionaries had been working in closest 
harmony and co-operation with the missionaries 
of the English Presbyterian Church, so much so 
that each scarcely cared whether converts were 
received into Church fellowship with one or the 
other. The Chinese converts, too, while doubtless 
realizing that their missionary brethren had come 
from different countries, yet supposed that they 
represented one Church. In 1857 the missionaries 
judged that the time had come for the organiza- 



50 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

tion of the separate churches into a Presbytery or 
Classis. 

The question arose : Would the mother Churches 
in England and America let their Churches in 
China — intermingled and intimately related from the 
first — be free born and independent from the start ; 
or must they disrupt what in fact and spirit was 
one Church and organize some into an English Pres- 
bytery and the others into an American Classis? 
Fortunately the missionaries at Amoy were a unit 
in the conviction that they could not tear this young 
Church in China apart for the sake of western 
denominational differences and in violation of the 
inherent liberties of Chinese Christians, and hence 
they memorialized their respective home author- 
ities for permission to erect an independent ec- 
clesiastical body in China. To the dismay of the 
Amoy missionaries the General Synod in America, 
seeing "no insuperable difficulties in carrying into 
operation their system, which comprehends Presby- 
teries and Synods in India as well as here," directed 
their brethren at Amoy to erect a Classis in con- 
nection with their own Synod. (79.2) 

In direct violation of this ruling of their General 
Synod the missionaries in Amoy in 1862 organized 
the "Tai-hoey," or "Great Elder's Meeting. ,, It 
consisted of the missionaries and delegated elders 
of both the English Presbyterian and Reformed 
Churches. It was natural, therefore, for the sub- 
ject to come before the General Synod again in 
1863, when its President left his Chair to urge that 
the Amoy plan was (1) unconstitutional, since the 
Synod had no power to authorize any such self- 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 51 

regulating ecclesiastical body; (2) that it was 
against their missionary policy from the beginning ; 
and (3) the danger of such a precedent in mission 
work. 

That the argument was not solely from the stand- 
point of China's good is seen from the final report 
that was brought in to the Synod in which it was 
stated that there was a strong desire to continue 
to regard the missions and missionary churches as 
"the objects of maternal and fostering care, and 
receive from them that direct reflex influence which 
would incite her [the home Church] to ever in- 
creasing exertions to extend abroad the kingdom 
of grace and truth." (79.3) It furthermore dis- 
tinctly affirmed that the "committee are unable to 
see how it will be possible to carry the sympathies 
and the liberalities of the Church with an increas- 
ing tide of love and sacrifice in support of our 
missionary work, if it once be admitted as a prece- 
dent to form abroad whatever combinations they 
may choose, and aid in creating ecclesiastical au- 
thorities which supersede the authorities which com- 
missioned them and now sustain them." (79.3) 

In the light of such arguments the General Synod 
was not ready yet to take the unfamiliar, untried 
step of setting a mission-founded Church free, and 
hence re-affirmed its position of 1857, resolving: 

"I. That the General Synod having adopted and 
tested its plan of conducting foreign missions, can see 
no reason for abolishing it; but on the contrary, be- 
lieve it to be adapted to the promotion of the best 
interests of foreign missionary churches, and of the 
denomination supporting them. 



52 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

"II. That the Board of Foreign Missions be, and 
hereby is, instructed to send to our missionaries at 
Amoy a copy or copies of this report, as containing the 
well-considered deliverance of the Synod respecting 
their present relations and future duty." (79.3) 

Fortunately Dr. Talmage was in America on fur- 
lough and throughout the next year could plead in 
person the cause of the young Church in China. 
The English Presbyterian Church had given its 
consent to the Amoy plan and Dr. Talmage yearned 
to have his home Church exhibit the same catho- 
licity of spirit. He prepared a pamphlet setting 
forth more clearly the position of the Mission at 
Amoy, and answering objections made to it. For 
Churches which still retain control over mission- 
founded congregations his arguments will be found 
to be as much to the point to-day as they were 
fifty years ago. With reference to the supposed 
advantage that integral relations to the General 
Synod of America would provide higher courts 
of jurisdiction to which appeals could be made and 
by which orthodoxy and good order might be bet- 
ter secured to the Church at Amoy, he said : 

"Now, let us see whether the plan proposed will 
secure these advantages. Let us suppose that one of 
the brethren feels himself aggrieved by the decision 
of the Classis of Amoy and appeals to the Particular 
Synod of Albany, and thence to General Synod. He 
will not be denied the right to such appeal. But, in 
order that the appeal may be properly prosecuted and 
disposed of, the appellant and the representative of 
Classis should be present in these higher courts. Can 
this be secured? Is the waste of time, of a year or 
more, nothing? And where shall the thousands of 
dollars of necessary expense come from? Now, sup- 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 53 

pose this appellant to be a Chinese brother. He, also, 
has rights; but how on this plan can he possibly obtain 
them? Suppose that the money be raised for him and 
he is permitted to stand on the floor of Synod. He 
cannot speak, read or write a word of English. Not 
a member of Synod can speak, read, or write a word 
of his language, except it be the brother prosecuting 
him. I ask, is it possible for him to obtain justice? 
But waiving all these disadvantages, the only point 
on which there is the least probability that an appeal 
of a Chinese brother would come up before the higher 
courts, are points on which these higher courts would 
not be qualified to decide. They w^ould doubtless 
grow out of the peculiar customs and laws of the 
Chinese, points on which the missionary, after he has 
been on the ground for a dozen years, often feels 
unwilling to decide, and takes the opinion of the native 
elders in preference to his own. Is it right to impose 
a yoke like this on that little Church which God is 
gathering by your instrumentality, in that far-off land 
of China? But it is said that these cases of appeal 
will very rarely or never happen. Be it so, then this 
supposed advantage will seldom or never occur, and 
if it should occur, it would be a disadvantage." (89.3) 

He was indignant that the home Church should 
ever consider her own interests above those of the 
infant Church in China : 

"Our people do not first ask whether it is building 
ourselves up before they sympathize with a benevolent 
object. ... If our people have not yet learned, they 
should be taught to engage in the work of evangelizing 
the world, not for the sake of our Church in America, 
but for the sake of Christ and His Church." 

While this campaign of education was proceed- 
ing in America, off in China so strongly did the 
entire Amoy Mission feel that the Synod's position 



54 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

was not only inexpedient and unwise but vitally 
wrong in principle, that they sent to their Board of 
Foreign Missions a communication that must even 
yet awaken emotion in the heart of anyone alive 
to the far-reaching significance for mission policy 
of this situation. In part it read as follows: 

"We conscientiously feel that in confirming such an 
organization we should be doing a positive injury and 
wrong to the churches of Christ established at Amoy, 
and that our duty to the Master and His people here 
forbids this. Therefore, our answer to the action of 
General Synod must be and is that we cannot be made 
the instruments of carrying out the wishes of Synod 
in this report; and further, if Synod is determined 
that such an organization must be effected, we can 
see no other way than to recall us and send hither 
men who see clearly their way to do that which to us 
seems wrong." (89.4) 

What could the General Synod do in the face of 
such conviction? In 1864 with Christian grace 
they resolved: 

"That while the General Synod does not deem it 
necessary or proper to change the mission policy defined 
and adopted in 1857, y et in consideration of the pecu- 
liar circumstances of the Mission of Amoy, the brethren 
there are allowed to defer the formation of a Classis 
of Amoy, until in their judgment, such a measure is 
required by the wants and the desires of the churches 
gathered by them from among the heathen. " (79.4) 

Thus ended a most interesting chapter in the ad- 
justment of relations between daughter and mother 
Churches — a chapter characterized by the most ten- 
der Christian forbearance on both sides. While 
in form the resolution of 1864 was but tentative, 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 55 

the question was not raised again. The battle had 
been won not only for China but for India. 

The Victory Available for India. But in India 
the start had been different and the inertia of this 
had to be overcome. What China's missionaries 
secured for Amoy after a seven-years' struggle 
by starting independently, India's missionaries re- 
quested for the Arcot group only after a long gen- 
eration had passed. All through these years one 
can see the goal defined but the action faltering. 
As early as 1867 we find the first official reference 
in the General Synod to "the expediency of uniting 
Presbyterians generally in one General Assembly 
in India" (79.5) — a question that involved not 
only the problem of union but of independence. 
In 1875 when considering a plan of co-operation 
with the Presbyterian Church (South), the General 
Synod declared that 

"the argument for union was made not only for the 
purpose of expressing the confidence which these two 
American Churches had in each other, but chiefly with 
the view of contributing to the establishment in each 
mission country of a National Church that shall grow 
from its own root." (79.6) 

In 1886 the Board of Foreign Missions officially 
stated it as their view that the relation between 
the native Churches and the Churches at home 
should be voluntary and temporary and should exist 
only so long as may be required by the infancy and 
growth of the native Churches and until they can 
stand alone and take care of themselves. (80.1) 
They furthermore judge that in a broad sense, the 
organization of an independent Church in every 



56 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

mission country where it is practicable, and the 
incorporation into it of all Churches of like faith 
and order, would, perhaps, be found one of the 
most effective means for promoting self-support, 
self-extension and self-government among those 
who compose it. It would immediately become 
their Church; they would have a new motive to 
labor for its support and extension, a new and 
increased degree of responsibility for its order and 
government. (80.2) 

In particular the General Synod, in contrast to 
its position with reference to China twenty-five 
years before, both permitted and advised the 
Classis of Arcot to initiate such measures as would 
bring about an independent union Church in India. 

(80.3) 

The Final Realization. It was thus with the 
cordial approval of the home Church that the mis- 
sionaries of the Reformed Church took their very 
active part in the proceedings of the Presbyterian 
Alliance of India. This organization was formed 
in 1875 to prepare for the organic union of the 
thirteen bodies in India, all holding to the reformed 
doctrines and the Presbyterian polity, and thereby 
to promote the stability and self-support of this 
Church. Besides the work of this organization in 
India the "Alliance of the Reformed Churches hold- 
ing the Presbyterian Polity' ' of Europe and Amer- 
ica forcefully presented to the home Churches the 
advisability of establishing native Churches in 
foreign lands. (113.1) 

The logical outcome of the movement that had 
been begun thirty years before and upon which the 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 57 

General Synod had taken favorable action in 1867, 
1875, and 1886, came in 1901. Almost two score 
years before this, as we have seen, the Reformed 
Church in America had reluctantly set free its 
Chinese congregation to form with the English 
Presbyterians the "Tai Hoey"; one score years 
before it had authorized its Japanese congregations 
and ministers to form with the English and 
Scotch Presbyterians "the Church of Christ in 
Japan" (113.2) ; over a decade before it was urging 
its Indian representatives to work toward an inde- 
pendent Church. Now in 1901 it hailed the memo- 
rial from the Classis of Arcot asking for approval 
of the proposed union of their Classis with the 
Presbytery of Madras in connection with the Free 
Church of Scotland Mission as marking a notable 
advance toward the fulfillment of our Lord's great 
prayer for His Church. (79.7) 

One of the primary objects of this new union 
as stated in a note to Canon 11 of the draft Con- 
stitution of the South India United Church was 
the promotion of the independence of the Indian 
Church. 

There is significant tenderness of feeling in the 
paper accompanying the action of the General 
Synod in dismissing the Classis of Arcot from its 
care. Here is no sign of western domination seek- 
ing authority for its own sake; but rather the pic- 
ture of a mother who out of very love shrinks from 
the time when growth in character and self-reliance 
shall take away her child. It reads: 



58 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

Dear Brethren: 

In consenting to your request that the Classis of 
Arcot be set off from the Particular Sjniod of New 
York and dismissed to the Synod of South India, the 
General Synod desires to express the warm affection 
which it entertains for that Classis. No selfish consid- 
eration induces us to consent to the separation. All 
such considerations would rather lead us to retain our 
hold upon it. For nearly fifty years the Reformed 
Church has watched its growth with parental solici- 
tude, affection and satisfaction. 

Were it to consult its own feeling it would not 
consent to sever the tie that has bound it so long and 
firmly to its heart, growing stronger with the years. 
So many precious lives and devoted labors, so many 
prayers, so much of consecrated wealth have been given 
to it and such rich rewards of divine blessing received 
through it as to make its separation from it a real 
sacrifice to the parent Church. 

Yet the occasion is such as to fill our hearts, also, 
with gratitude to God. That He has so smiled upon 
our efforts — all too small in His service — as to enable 
us to make so precious a contribution to the estab- 
lishment of a new and independent Church of Christ 
in India, of our own faith and order, henceforth to 
"grow from its own root," and in its native soil, is a 
matter of devout thanksgiving and praise to Him who 
only doeth wondrous things. With all the love and 
all the precious memories of the past fresh in our 
minds and hearts, we bid God-speed to this child of 
our affection. We assure it of the continuance of our 
abiding interest and love and prayers. The blessing 
of the Lord be upon you. We bless you out of the 
house of the Lord. (79.8) 

On the other side of the world the Classis of 
Arcot of the Reformed Church in America met for 
the last time. Feelings of thankfulness to God 
could not be restrained in that they, as a Classis, 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 59 

were in a position to assume the responsibilities of 
"growing from their own root," and entering upon 
the privilege of self-government and independent 
manhood, thus consummating in 1902 the first in- 
stance of organic union in India. (90.1) 

4. Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. 

Views of Secretary Lowrie. Dr. John C. 
Lowrie, one of the first of Presbyterian mission- 
aries to India and Secretary of the Board 
of Foreign Missions from 1 836-1 891, had no 
uncertain views with reference to the goal of 
mission work. We find him in 1864 stating 
that the relation between the daughter churches 
and their far distant mother Church is only 
temporary and transitional; longing for the day 
when they can stand alone as a native Church; 
and urging that both parties should pray for the 
day of their happy separation. (57.1) 

His position would by many even yet be con- 
sidered radical; for in connection with the action 
of the General Assembly of 1877 referred to below, 
he held "that the Constitution of each Church, 
including its legal charter, is limited to its own 
country, and has no ecclesiastical or legal force in 
foreign countries, excepting in its application to 
its own ministers and members as such." In other 
words that in strict theory, "the Presbyterian 
Church in the United States of America" has no 
jurisdiction over Presbyterian Churches not in 
America. (57.2) He applied this theory in urging 
the General Assembly to take certain action affect- 



60 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

ing foreign Presbyteries which on its merits seemed 
to him good but which the General Assembly re- 
jected because it would be against its constitution 
which by assumption applied to all foreign Pres- 
byteries connected with the Assembly. He held 
that there were far larger realms than that of 
technical ecclesiastical control in which the Chris- 
tian wisdom of the General Assembly would be 
needed ; that in connection with questions of moment 
in its foreign work, counsel, sympathy and direc- 
tions within limits would be required. "After a 
while/' however, "they will be able to walk without 
help, and then let them set up for themselves — 
the sooner the better." 

The Anomalous Condition for the Home 
Church. In the practical working out of what 
was involved in an integral relationship of foreign 
Presbyteries to the General Assembly anomalies of 
necessity appeared. When the writer of the General 
Assembly's official "Narrative of the State of Re- 
ligion within the Bounds of the Presbyterian 
Church in the United States of America" finds it 
necessary to include a recital of conditions in 
foreign Presbyteries he cannot help but remark that 
they 

"have hardly become so used to the closer contact of 
the nations as to have gotten over the feeling of strange- 
ness at receiving reports in due form from certain mis- 
sionary Presbyteries, and at finding the familiar Pres- 
byterial machinery at work under palms or amid 
pagodas." (48.10) 

On the other hand we are not surprised at 
evidence that the connection of the daughter 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 61 

churches with the parent Church had not entered 
deeply enough into their consciousness to make 
these narratives from foreign Presbyteries very 
frequent. (48.20) The fact is that in eight of the 
ten years preceding the granting of ecclesiastical 
independence to the Presbyterian Church in India, 
the Assembly's accounts show that the combined 
contributions to the expenses of the General As- 
sembly from churches growing out of her three 
missions to India amounted to absolutely nothing. 
(48.21)* 

Naturally it was not easy for the General As- 
sembly to keep in mind the existence of these 
foreign bodies as integral parts of itself and coming 
under its legislation. For example in 1894 the 
General Assembly recorded most earnestly its pro- 
test "against any deviation of national, state or 
municipal funds for ecclesiastical uses, by whom- 
soever sought or upon whatsoever pretext." The 
next year the Kolhapur Mission through an over- 
ture asked the General Assembly whether this 
declaration was intended to discourage the accept- 
ance of such funds for like object on the foreign 
mission fields of the Church as well as in the United 
States of America; and whether it applied to the 
acceptance of lands or of buildings to be used in 
mission work. (54.1) The Assembly had to reply 
that its action was designed to apply to conditions 
existing in the United States and was in no way 

*Nineteen dollars were given in the two years, 1903-4. (48.22) 
The General Assembly Minutes for 19 14 say that the Foreign 
Mission Presbyteries are exempt (48.23); but the same Assembly 
passed a resolution urging all Presbyteries, including those here- 
tofore exempt, to contribute in full to the Assembly funds. (48.24) 



m ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

intended to discourage the acceptance of gifts for 
mission work in foreign lands. (48.3) 

Furthermore, the abnormal relation led to in- 
efficiency. Foreign Presbyteries so frequently de- 
clined to exercise their right to vote on overtures 
submitted to them by the Assembly that finally the 
Stated Clerk presented to the Assembly the need 
for action in this regard. The General Assembly 
resolved that inasmuch as all Presbyteries are 
equally entitled to vote upon every overture trans- 
mitted to the General Assembly and failure to vote 
upon such overtures is equivalent to a negative 
vote, that the Stated Clerk be instructed to make 
special requisition upon the foreign mission Pres- 
byteries to consider and vote promptly upon all 
overtures submitted to them. (48.4) 

Possibilities of Misunderstanding in the Indian 
Church. But such inconvenience in the way of 
adaptation on the part of the parent Church was 
as nothing in comparison with the possibility of 
misunderstanding and friction on the part of the 
growing Church in India. For example in 1887, 
the General Assembly found it necessary to re- 
verse the decision of the Synod in India in con- 
nection with an Indian Minister against whom his 
Presbytery had brought charges. The case had 
been long and intricate and when to this is added 
the fact that the Synod in India had on technical 
grounds acquitted him and the Assembly ten 
thousand miles away had found him guilty, there 
arises just the kind of situation that fixes hostile 
attitude. (49.1) 

Some years later the Assembly had to reject the 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 63 

appeal of an Indian in connection with an election 
of elders and deacons as held in one of the churches 
under the direction of the Presbytery of Allahabad. 
(48.5) Any Indian alive to the situation must 
have realized that however frequently it might be 
asserted that in the Indian Presbyteries Indians 
were on an absolute ecclesiastical level with mis- 
sionaries, yet when it came to the representation of 
the Presbytery in the General Assembly a financial 
difference was made for the missionary that made 
it inevitable that he alone should be the representa- 
tive. The official statement reads : "Commissioners 
from Presbyteries in foreign lands, receive their 
necessary traveling expenses, pro rata, from and to 
their place of residence in this country!' (48.25) 
That in each of these cases an impartial observer 
would have judged the Assembly right, only em- 
phasizes the truth that what is causing most of 
the strain in India between the Missions and the 
home Church on the one side and the growing 
Churches in India on the other are facts of atti- 
tude rather than facts of justice. 

Reiterated Statement of Policy. Let us trace 
some of the steps by which both the official theory 
and the practice of the General Assembly shaped 
themselves. The first official statements with 
reference to the formation of independent national 
Churches on the foreign field were made as the 
outgrowth of action initiated in India. It was at 
the call of the General Assembly's Synod of North 
India, that the first steps were taken in the forma- 
tion of the Presbyterian Alliance of India, to which 
attention has already been called. One of the As- 



64 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

sembly's missionaries, Dr. J. H. Morrison, has been 
called "the earthly father of the Alliance." Con- 
vened in 1871 and formally organized in 1875, the 
next year the Presbyterian Alliance (1 13.10) ad- 
dressed to the various branches of the Church rep- 
resented in it a memorial, asking the authorization 
of certain steps looking toward "the ultimately 
complete organization of a Presbyterian Church in 
India." (48.6) This request was referred by the 
General Assembly for that year to the Board of 
Foreign Missions, and the Board made a special 
report on the subject to the Assembly of 1877. 
That Report was referred to the Committee on the 
Polity of the Church, and upon their recommenda- 
tion the subject was referred to the Assembly of 
1879. (48.7) In that Assembly, after this long 
and careful preparation, running over several years, 
the Presbyterian Church was able to take an ad- 
vanced stand on the question of Church union with 
the necessarily involved problem of giving inde- 
pendence to the daughter Churches. The General 
Assembly's action read: 

"In regions occupied by the Board and by the 
missions of other Presbyterian denominations, mission- 
ary churches, Presbyteries and Synods holding the same 
faith and order, should be encouraged to enter into 
organic relations with each other, for joint work in 
the common field." 

The Assembly of 1880, in the most practical way, 
carried out the spirit of this policy, by striking from 
the roll the Presbytery of Japan, upon information 
that its missionaries in that country had become 
members of the union Presbyterian ecclesiastical 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 65 

body there organized. The Assembly of 1886 
reiterated its adherence to the same policy. (48.8) 

In the General Assembly of 1887 we find them 
facing with still greater definiteness the problem of 
"the constitution of the mission Presbyteries and 
the relation of the mission Churches to the home 
Churches." Here the policy of 'the Church is 
taken as clear and settled that "as soon as these 
union bodies are formed, and these native minis- 
ters and Churches enter them, they have no further 
ecclesiastical connection with the Church at home, 
except through the Mission and the Board of Mis- 
sions." (48.9) 

Already they could point to the independent 
union Churches of Presbyterian polity and doctrine 
in Amoy (China), in Syria and in Japan. As to 
the other regions where such unions had not been 
affected "the possibilities cannot do otherwise than 
excite the most intense longing for the day when 
all minor divisions will disappear in great national 
organizations/' India is especially noticed as a 
country for which such an independent union 
Church was an earnestly sought ideal — a hope that 
had to wait seventeen years for fulfilment. (48.11) 

With the idea of building up "independent na- 
tional Churches holding to the Reformed doctrine 
and the Presbyterian polity on foreign fields" the 
Assembly of 1887 adopted the following resolu- 
tion: 

"That in countries where it is possible satisfactorily 
to form Union Presbyteries, the further organization 
of Presbyteries in connection with this General As- 
sembly is discouraged, and in countries where there 



66 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

are now Presbyteries in connection with this General 
Assembly, but where it is possible satisfactorily to form 
Union Presbyteries, it is strongly urged that the steps 
be taken as rapidly as this can wisely be done to merge 
the membership in Union Presbyteries, and to dissolve 
the Presbyteries of this General Assembly." (48.12) 

The General Assembly of 1900, definitely recog- 
nizing that the action of 1887 had in view the 
building of independent national Churches holding 
to the Reformed doctrine and Presbyterian polity, 
took further steps for "the furtherance of a native 
Church rooting itself deeply in the soil of the 
lands evangelized" and adopted the view of its 
Board of Foreign Missions that 

"the object of the Foreign Missionary enterprise is 
not to perpetuate on the mission field the denomina- 
tional distinctions of Christendom, but to build upon 
scriptural lines and according to scriptural principles 
and methods the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

(48.13) 

These principles were still further carried into 
action by the General Assembly's giving inde- 
pendence to the Presbyterian Church of Brazil in 
1889 (48.14) ; and by granting the requests con- 
tained in three overtures from Presbyteries in 
Mexico that they might constitute themselves into 
an independent Synod of Mexico. In presenting 
these overtures to the Assembly the following 
comment appears : 

"It is understood that the proposal is unanimously 
favored by the Board of Foreign Missions and that it 
is in entire harmony with the settled policy of the 
Foreign Board concerning missions in foreign lands, 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 67 

which policy has already been approved by the General 
Assembly." (48.15) 

That the authorities of the Church were endeavor- 
ing to keep before themselves the ideal of inde- 
pendent Churches on the mission fields is shown in 
the kind of questions raised in a pamphlet on 
Policy and Methods issued by the Board of For- 
eign Missions in 1895, viz., 

"Is it wise to impose upon the native Church the 
forms of organization and methods of work prevailing 
in the United States? 

"Is there danger of the Churches being dominated 
by the missionaries? 

"Should all unordained missionaries become members 
of native churches? 

"Does the placing of ministers, supported by the 
Board, over congregations weaken the people's sense of 
responsibility for the spread of the Gospel, and for 
the attainment of self-support?" (60) 

Later, in its formal report to the General As- 
sembly, the Board of Foreign Missions shows their 
ideal definitely shaping action : 

"The movement already referred to toward the 
organization of independent national Churches neces- 
sitates the preparation of a national ministry competent 
to assume the responsibilities thrust upon them. Noth- 
ing could be more illogical than to encourage the for- 
mation of such organizations and at the same time 
pursue a policy of repression or neglect in the matter 
of developing an adequate native force." (48.16) 

An even clearer statement of the Board's position 
is given in its official answer to a request from the 
Presbytery of Zacatecas, Mexico; 



68 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

"The ideal which the Board cherishes earnestly is 
the ideal of a united and independent national Church 
among each people — a Church in which all true be- 
lievers in Christ would be united in one body, ful- 
filling its own functions of self-maintenance, self-gov- 
ernment, and self-extension. . . . The Board heartily 
rejoices in each step which the Church may take toward 
the further attainment of the ideal which it cherishes 
for itself and which the Board unreservedly cherishes 
for it." (61) 

The Attainment. While the authorities at the 
home base were reiterating their position, efforts 
to this end were being continued in India. Five 
Councils of the Presbyterian Alliance were held 
between 1875 and 1890, but no decisive action in 
the line of organic union was secured, and for a 
decade interest in the project in India seemed to 
wane. The Alliance was given new life by the 
actual organic union in 1902 of the Classis of 
Arcot and the Presbytery of Madras in connection 
with the Free Church of Scotland Mission. (1 13.10) 

The officers of the Alliance drafted a letter to 
the various mother Churches, in which they con- 
fidently expressed their hope that these Churches 
would give them their blessing and grant to their 
representatives in India the necessary authority for 
constituting the Presbyterian Church in India. 
"The Native Church of India calls for an indige- 
nous Presbyterian Church, and it would be worse 
than a blunder if the mother Churches, who have 
perforce brought with them to India the different 
divisions and names, did not do everything in their 
power to have these obliterated." (113.3) The 
General Assembly in 1903 recorded its approval 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 69 

of the union (48.17) and in 1904 formally dis- 
missed its Synod of India to unite with the eight 
other Presbyterian bodies to form the Presbyterian 
Church of India. (48.18) Thus finally was ec- 
clesiastical independence gained by this section of 
the Church in India. The gaining of real adminis- 
trative independence and autonomy, as we shall see, 
is a much longer story. 

5. The Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Ecumenical Methodism. The General Confer- 
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church has made 
no official pronouncement as to whether its ideal 
is to give ecclesiastical independence to churches 
on the mission field. "Ecumenical Methodism," 
however, is a phrase increasingly used by Methodist 
leaders and by those outside their Church they are 
usually associated with the ideal of an all-inclusive 
Church. When the discussion was up in 1888 as 
to whether a bishop should be given to India one 
argument against it was that it would seriously im- 
peril the most important feature of their work 
at that time, namely the close intimate connection 
between the home and the foreign Churches. (96.1) 

The ecumenical ideal is not confined to any one 
portion of the Church. It forms the peroration of 
the Bishop's address at the quadrennial Central 
Conference for Southern Asia in the following 
words : 

"Before many years we may expect to see in our 
General Conference the Chinaman greeting the Ben- 
gali, the Burman fraternizing with the Hindustani, 



70 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

the Tamil and Kanarese mingling with the Gujarati 
and Punjabi, while the Australian, American, English, 
German, and Scandinavian missionaries from more dis- 
tant fields will still have a place and a responsibility 
in the great council." (ioi.io) 

In the Episcopal Address at the General Con- 
ference of 1908 in reference to what was practically 
the enforced grant of independence to the Japanese 
Church it was remarked that "some regret the 
separation as affecting our ecumenical quality and 
tendency/' and the General Conference is cautioned 
against further authorization of independent Meth- 
odist Churches to which subsidies would have to 
be given after control had been surrendered. (95.16) 
In 191 2 the General Conference declared its hearty 
sympathy with any wise and well-directed plans 
for Methodist federation in China, but adopted a 
resolution directing that such plans should not 
involve a severance of organic connection with the 
various home Churches. (95.17) 

The most deliberately thoughtful and eloquent 
statement of this position is to be found in the 
address of Bishop Bashford before the General 
Conference in America in 1912: 

"The whole trend of modern history is toward 
world-wide affiliations; . . . The key to 20th cen- 
tury is internationalism as nationalism was of the 
19th century. ... It will be a thousand pities if 
at the very time when Christ's conception of a uni- 
versal kingdom is beginning to capture the imagination 
of the world, Methodism assembled in a General Con- 
ference in which representation of twenty nations sit 
side by side should attempt to reverse the Divine Prov- 
idence, abandon her birthright embodied in John Wes- 
ley's motto, 'The world is my parish/ and begin the 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 71 

organization of a national Church for China, a na- 
tional Church for Mexico, a national Church for 
Siberia. Hence we are glad to report that after free 
discussion of the national as over against the universal 
Church, the Central Conference for China on the 
eloquent appeal of a Chinese statesman that the Chinese 
Methodists keep the cross above the flag and maintain 
their seat around the family hearth stone, voted over- 
whelmingly against the national conception and for 
the maintenance by Chinese Methodists of their birth- 
right in ecumenical Methodism.' , (95.18) 

The Ideal of National Churches. But this has 
not always been the ideal of Methodism. When 
the General Conference of 1856 found that their 
desire to appoint an African Bishop conflicted with 
the third restrictive rule of the Book of Discipline, 
in that the formation of an African Bishopric 
would be a localized Bishopric while the restrictive 
rule provides only for a general superintendency, 
two of the three solutions suggested in the Episco- 
pal address were most radical — that the General 
Conference should appoint a Bishop and send him 
to organize an independent Methodist Episcopal 
Church of Africa; or it should let the Liberians 
organize themselves, elect their Bishop and send 
him to America for ordination. In the discussion 
on the floor of the Conference it was urged that 
the jurisdiction of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
is exclusively limited to the United States of Amer- 
ica; that they proposed to do no more than was 
sanctioned by the usages of primitive Methodism; 
and that the action of the Conference should be in 
the direction of the establishment of an independent 
Church in Africa. (96.3) 



72 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

Nor by any means does ecumenical Methodism 
represent the ideal of all even now. A few years 
ago during the general discussions of union the 
Methodists of India were charged, as so often 
happens, with the policy of perpetuating indefinitely 
the close relation of Churches organized on the 
mission field to the denomination sending out the 
mission. The charge was resented by the editor of 
the Indian Witness and the examples of independ- 
ence given to Japan and Canada were cited as to 
what Methodism had done, (iio.i) 

The clearest statement of the non-ecumenical 
view was made by Bishop Thoburn twenty years 
ago, when he wrote: 

"We may accept it as certain, beyond any shadow 
of a doubt, that in every nation under the sun our 
Christian converts will want to assume the manage- 
ment of their own affairs as soon as they are per- 
mitted to do so. It is utterly useless to find fault 
with this disposition. It is inseparable from our 
character as human beings, and we might as well 
quarrel with the fact that our converts will feel the 
natural sensation of hunger and thirst, as with their 
wish to manage affairs which they instinctively per- 
ceive to belong to themselves. If we are unwise, it 
will be very easy to quarrel with the inevitable, and 
in every such contest those who take up with the 
quarrel are to feel either surprise or displeasure when 
we discover that our brethren in Christ in other coun- 
tries are led, as if naturally, to maintain a position 
which we never think of abandoning in our own case 
for a single moment; nor is it desirable that these 
converts should act otherwise. If we can not build 
up Churches in foreign lands with indigenous resources 
and capable of self-government, we might as well aban- 
don all our attempts to overthrow the false religions 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 73 

of the nations and to make this earth a Christian world. 
Accepting, then, a fact so obvious as this, it requires 
the highest wisdom on the part of all missionary man- 
agers to co-operate with the natural tendency of events 
on the mission field, and to develop an indigenous gov- 
ernment of every Christian Church as rapidly as pos- 
sible. For a time — and it possibly may be a long time 
— the Church in a mission field must be more or less 
closely connected with the body which has, under 
God, brought it into existence; but in order to secure 
its best and highest possibilities as rapidly as possible, 
its local administration should be made autonomous 
at the earliest possible date, and this should be kept 
constantly in view. It would be rash and unwise 
in the extreme to cast off a foreign Church at the 
very day of its organization, and no great change of 
this kind should ever be precipitated in such a manner 
as to imperil any important interest; but on the other 
hand it is as short-sighted as it is vain for any Church 
to assume that it can control the interests of another 
Church on the opposite side of the globe, make laws 
for it, sanction or veto its measures, and administer 
its interests in all matters great and small. In every 
mission field it ought to be accepted as a settled maxim 
that the foreign element, like the house of Saul, will 
wax weaker and weaker, while the indigenous ele- 
ment, like the house of David, is to wax stronger and 
stronger, until at length the consummation to be de- 
sired by both parties is reached, and full autonomy 
given in every separate nation to the Church or 
Churches of the nation. " (105.1) 

Two years later in his Bishop's address before 
the Central Conference for India and Malaysia he 
pointed out how slowly the leading Missionary 
Societies of the world were beginning to perceive 
that the Churches raised up by their agents in 
foreign lands must in a large measure manage their 
own affairs, direct their own advanced movements, 



74 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

and in time depend upon their own resources; and 
how the time was probably at hand when this would 
be impressed upon the friends of missions, both at 
home and abroad, in a manner which could not be 
mistaken. (101.2) 

Deduction from Her History. Doubtless if 
Indian Methodists should request independence and 
should accompany that request with the assurance 
that they were capable of a reasonable measure of 
self-support the petition could not be refused con- 
sistently with the Church's history. It had itself 
assumed its independence in 1784 as the result of 
the independence of the United States ; changed 
social conditions led to the formation of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church South in 1845 J f° r 3^ years 
the work in Canada was under the jurisdiction of 
the Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
in the United States, but in 1828 they re- 
linquished their supervision, and the societies in 
Canada became a separate and independent Church 
under the name of the "Methodist Episcopal Church 
in Canada. " Later came unions in Canada with 
six other Methodist bodies which dissolved their 
connection with parent bodies by mutual consent. 
(226.19) 

We can further judge as to what the Methodist 
Episcopal Church would do if asked to grant inde- 
pendence to its Indian churches, by noting that when 
really forced to a decision its Commissioners thus 
addressed the Japanese delegates who were about 
to form the Methodist Church of Japan: 

"That you may better understand our spirit and 
purposes, permit us to speak with brotherly frankness 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 75 

concerning the matter submitted to us and the basis 
we have adopted. We need not remind you that 
the people of the United States and Canada respect 
the right of every other civilized people to regulate 
their own affairs without compulsory interference from 
abroad. The governing bodies of our several Churches 
did not hesitate to recognize this principle when they 
were petitioned to grant independent organization to 
their societies in Japan, though we dare not conceal 
the fact that their action was taken not without re- 
gret, and even with serious misgivings in the minds of 
many, as to the expediency of such a radical move- 
ment at this juncture, while we have as yet so very 
few self-supporting Churches in the empire. If our 
teaching had been in any way harmful, or our admin- 
istration oppressive, or our missionaries unkind or un- 
worthy, we could not have wondered at the desire 
for the organization of an independent native Church. 
But in all respects we were assured to the contrary; 
and the one reason assigned for the immediate inde- 
pendence of our Japanese societies was the belief of 
the petitioners that with a distinctively national organ- 
ization and following their own plans, our Japanese 
preachers and people could more effectively carry for- 
ward the work of evangelizing their countrymen. The 
sincerity of that conviction was not questioned by 
either of our General Conferences, nor did they choose 
to raise a contention as to the soundness of the reason- 
ing that supported it." (95.21) 

The Demands of Efficiency. The Methodist 
Episcopal Church would be untrue not only to her 
history but to the practical demands of efficiency 
to which she is so alive if she were to refuse a 
serious request for independence from India. No 
self-respecting indigenous Church could long be 
content to have as their highest Church court 31 
body which as the Book of Discipline asserts must 



76 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

meet "at such a place in the United States of 
America as shall have been determined/' (99-0 
nor could she face the financial strain of taking 
adequate representation from America to a General 
Conference in China or India. One only needs to 
be shaken free, as was Bishop Thoburn, from un- 
pondered presuppositions to see how inevitable in- 
dependence is. Thus after facing for eight years 
as the single Bishop for India the problems of that 
rapidly growing section of their Church, he attended 
the General Conference of 1896. In his "Mis- 
sionary Apprenticeship" he tells how he was not 
long in making the observation 

"that this great body, with its immense responsibilities 
and limited time, would never be able, as a permanent 
arrangement, to legislate for a Church spread out 
over the whole globe. In the first place, it must neces- 
sarily be a physical impossibility. The work at hand 
could not be attended to satisfactorily and it jvas mani- 
fest at a glance that the new and strange questions 
which must from time to time arise in twenty or more 
foreign countries, could never obtain a fair hearing, 
to say nothing of a proper solution, from such a body. 
In the next place, it was quickly evident that all ques- 
tions from abroad would be pressed into American 
moulds, and that antipodal legislation would not in 
every case adapt a proper means to a desired end. 
Lastly, it was constantly evident that every proposed 
measure would be, first of all, weighed in the balance 
with American interests, and if it were found to inter- 
fere with these it would stand a very poor chance 
of adoption. One week at the General Conference 
convinced me that in the fullness of time there must 
be a legislative body, with carefully defined powers, 
in each separate nationality." (104.1) 

That it is difficult for the home Church to keep 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 77 

in mind its ecumenical character is shown by the 
fact that in its official "Book of Discipline" in three 
out of the four places where it attempts to cover 
all forms of civil government under which the 
Church holds real estate the phrase "States and 
Territories" is used. (99.2) It is to this book that 
one must turn for Methodist law in whatever 
foreign country and yet it says with reference to 
the expense of its various Boards that the Commis- 
sioners on Finance shall make an equitable appor- 
tionment of the same to the various Annual Con- 
ferences even though it could hardly be expected 
that India should feel responsibility for such Boards 
as those for Freedmen, Home Missions and Church 
Extension as constituted in America. (99.3) Amongst 
the Disciplinary Questions which must according to 
law be put at every Conference are those asking 
whether the provisions of the Discipline concerning 
the Conference Boards of Foreign Missions, Home 
Missions and Church Extension have been carried 
out — a most excellent plan for securing efficiency 
amongst those Conferences which support these 
benevolences — but hardly apropos in a foreign Con- 
ference. (994) 

Writing from the standpoint of a South American 
Bishop, Homer C. Stuntz in an article entitled 
"Wanted: A Cosmopolitan Book of Discipline" 
says: 

"Manifold are the embarrassments of those who 
are called upon to administer the affairs of our Church 
in the ends of the earth; they follow the Discipline 
literally. The longer thoughtful men have toiled at 
the task the more clear has it become to them that 



78 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

the 'little black book' has been largely made for tht 
United States by General Conference delegates, of 
whom an overwhelming preponderance were from the 
United States and thought in terms of the land that 
had horizoned them from infancy. " (109) 

The Situation as it is. Turning to the actual 
situation in India we do not find there an Indian 
Church, ecclesiastically independent, as the result 
thus far of the Methodist Episcopal Church. All 
Indian Christians connected with this Church are 
de facto members of an organization that admits 
no national boundaries. As an integral part of 
this Church are certain congregations composed 
wholly or mainly of Indians and located in India. 
Only in this looser sense can the term Indian 
Church be used in this connection. 

Methodist literature and reports in India fairly 
throb with effort and accomplishment in connection 
with self-support and self-extension, but there is a 
marked absence of the third element — self-govern- 
ment — in that triad which is one of the most com- 
mon phrases in the literature of other Boards. For 
instance, in the last annual report of the Board 
of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church they call most sympathetic attention to the 
native congregations springing up on the mission 
fields and united with their missionaries "in the 
bonds of a common belief, polity and life purpose," 
and draw attention to the first two only of those 
three great problems of a growing Church. (97.1) 

The conference of representatives of the Church 
Missionary Society, meeting at Allahabad fifteen 
years ago, recorded it as their opinion that the 



IDEAL OF INDEPENDENCE 79 

result of their work "should be the formation of an 
independent Indian Church, governed by its own 
Synods, under an Indian Episcopate, and in com- 
munion with the Church of England." (113.13)* 
We do not find such a representative declaration 
of policy with reference to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. There can be no doubt as to their earnest 
desire that India should attain financial and evan- 
gelistic independence, but the Board of Foreign 
Missions has no definite policy in regard to ec- 
clesiastical and administrative independence. (108) 
In short, for the great body of the Church in 
America the question of indigenous Churches, ec- 
clesiastically independent, has simply not become 
a live problem for all mission fields and no great 
distinction in thought is made between the spread 
of Methodism and the spread of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

*It is interesting to note that one great society had the fore- 
sight to perceive from the first that such questions would arise, 
and embodied its answer to them in its constitution. In Article 
III of the Plan and Constitution of the London Missionary 
society we find the following: "It shall be left (as it ought to be 
left) to the minds of the persons whom God may call into the 
fellowship of His Son ... to assume for themselves such 
form of church government as to them shall appear most agreeable 
to the Word of God" (111.2) For the position of the United 
Brethren, cf. (123.1) 



II 



THE ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP OF 
FOREIGN MISSIONARIES 

ADMITTING that in general the goal is an 
ecclesiastically independent Indian Church, 
the question arises : Can this ideal be best 
secured by missionaries identifying themselves 
with Indian ecclesiastical bodies; by maintaining 
complete separation; or by some plan of consulta- 
tive membership on the part of the missionary? 
Will the devolution of ecclesiastical powers and 
government be best secured from without or from 
within the Church on the mission field? In prac- 
tice this has proved to be a most important as 
well as most difficult problem. It was one of the 
points about which most discussion took place in 
the formation of the Presbyterian Church in India 
and of the South India United Church. 

The Intra Muros Relationship. It will be seen 
that important educational principles are involved. 
On the one side are those who argue that the 
training of the native Churches in the art of self- 
government can best proceed from within; that 
we ought to share with our brethren in mission 
lands the trials and responsibilities of building up 
strong Churches ; that the Churches concerned need 
not only our counsel and direction but often the 

80 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 81 

exercise of ecclesiastical authority over them; in 
other words, that the Indian Church can best be 
helped by the missionary intra muros. Moreover, 
they would say that it is helpful to the missionary 
to throw his lot in completely with the native 
Church; that his true attitude and spirit may best 
be represented by the words: "Forget also thine 
own people and thy father's house ;" that this tends 
to the most cordial relations with the people of a 
given country ; that the missionary should be under 
local ecclesiastical jurisdiction rather than under 
some court thousands of miles away; and that if 
the missionary does not so identify himself with 
local ecclesiastical bodies there is danger of his 
becoming an unauthorized quasi Bishop over the 
Churches with which he is connected. Some few 
in favour of the full membership of missionaries 
in native ecclesiastical bodies acknowledge that if 
they were only consultative members without the 
real power to vote they would lose all interest and 
would not attend the ecclesiastical bodies. Finally 
it is said that the principle of the unity of all Chris- 
tians is at stake; and that there should be the 
visible exemplification that all are members of one 
body. 

The ab Extra Relationship. On the other hand 
there are those who would say that the best way 
to train a Church is the same as a child — set it on 
its own feet, expect it to make decisions for itself 
— i.e., ab extra. They would argue that this plan 
secures more rapid development through bearing 
responsibility; that the Church should be started 
on the basis on which it is expected eventually to 



82 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

rest; that all the advantages of training and advice 
can be better secured by missionaries in a con- 
sultative capacity; that if sufficient influence can- 
not be secured by the missionary through force 
of character and personal worthfulness, it is futile 
to secure it through a mere vote ; and that it makes 
plain that the foreigner does not wish to rule, but 
only to help and thus avoids that irritation and 
friction that sooner or later must spring up where 
persons of different nationalities, traditions and cus- 
toms each have voting powers. They would hold 
that this separation is not a question of introduc- 
ing race distinctions into a Church, but simply the 
very necessary preservation of proper distinctions 
between the functions of a Mission and the func- 
tions of a Church. Furthermore, the frequent accu- 
sation in the Orient by non-Christians that the 
Church is foreign would find one good answer if 
Church government were wholly in the hands of 
the natives, so that no authoritative part were 
taken my missionaries. 

Still other arguments for this position, by no 
means so sound, are used by some. That the 
average missionary does not want to sever his con- 
nection with the home Church; that his brethren 
at home will be more interested in him if he retains 
his membership with them; that on his return he 
may be eligible to preside over their highest as- 
semblies — such arguments are hardly worthy an 
enterprise whose very glory consists in self-sacri- 
ficing unrequited service. 

Purpose of this Chapter. It is the purpose of 
this chapter, not to answer this question theoret- 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 83 

ically, but to show historically what have been the 
legislative decisions on the problem of the ec- 
clesiastical relationship of foreign missionaries. In 
the following chapter we shall consider further the 
merits of this question. 

i. The Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. 

General Assembly Action 1836-98 Consistently 
for the Intra Muros Plan. We will begin this 
chapter with the Presbyterian Church since in it 
we have the fullest and most varied history on this 
subject. For over half a century this question has 
been a subject for legislation. It will be seen how 
the policy has passed through successive stages 
and how even to-day there is unanimity neither in 
theory nor practice. It is still one of the practical 
problems of mission administration. 

The policy that was not to find radical restate- 
ment for sixty years is thus officially expressed in 

1838: 

"That in the judgment of this assembly the min- 
isters who are located as foreign missionaries perma- 
nently out of the bounds of their respective Presby- 
teries, ought, where they are sufficiently numerous, 
and where they are so located as to render occasional 
intercourse possible, in all cases to organize themselves 
into Presbyteries, and gather the converts whom God 
may give them into Presbyterian churches, ordaining 
elders in them all." (48.35) 

The earliest existent "Manual for the Use of 
Missionaries" issued by the Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions (that of 1862) places this judgment of the 
General Assembly in the hands of every missionary i 



84 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

"The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
have directed all their foreign missionaries wherever 
it is practicable to form themselves into Presbyteries. 
The powers and duties of this scriptural and important 
judicatory are well understood by the Church at home 
and the missionaries abroad. A bond of union, of 
equality and confidence is thus established among them- 
selves and between them and the Church at home. 
This union of feeling and interest, and of the most 
cherished hopes and prospects is from the commence- 
ment of great importance and the anticipations for 
the future are full of promise. When by the blessing 
of God, Churches are established in the respective 
foreign fields, the correspondence between their judica- 
tories and the General Assembly, whether that corre- 
spondence be by letters or by delegates, will be of 
deep and encouraging interest, uniting those distant 
Churches with the Churches at home in the bonds of 
truth and love." (51.1 ) 

We have evidence that this direction of the 
General Assembly was followed by missionaries in 
those days, for Secretary Lowrie, in a volume pub- 
lished in 1868, says that the ordained missionaries 
became members of the Presbyteries which had 
been organized in their respective fields of labor. 

(56.1) 

The "Manual" of 1873 is more explicit: 

"Ministers should connect themselves with Pres- 
byteries, when Presbyteries exist, at the first meeting 
after their arrival, taking their letters of dismission 
from Presbyteries at home with them for this pur- 
pose." (51.2) 

The Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in 
1877 formulated at some length a policy with 
reference to the ecclesiastical relations of its mis- 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 85 

sionaries. This was in reponse to the request of 
the General Assembly of the year before (48.26) 
which had referred to the Board a memorial from 
the Synod of India concerning steps being taken 
there to secure larger co-operation between 
European and American bodies having the 
Presbyterian polity. The Board's report to 
the Assembly shows what complex considera- 
tion surrounded the solution of this question 
of ecclesiastical relationship. They had en- 
deavored to obtain the fullest possible infor- 
mation through writing to all their ordained mis- 
sionaries and consultation with Secretaries of other 
Boards. The result discovered a total lack of una- 
nimity either as to opinion or as to practice. The 
draft resolution brought in as a result of their 
deliberations contained several excellent provisions 
such as the equal possibility of representation in 
General Assembly for native and American ; the 
limiting of overtures concerning America to Amer- 
ica, and the limiting of appeals in mission churches 
to the highest Church court of the land concerned. 
As to the immediate question of this chapter their 
resolution read: "Each Presbytery shall consist of 
all ministers, native and foreign. . . ." In the 
case of union Presbyteries there was to be the right 
of full representation on the part of foreign mem- 
bers and churches in the General Assembly without 
affecting their relations to the local Presbyteries. 
(48.27) 

It is evident that the object of this minute was 
to provide for ecclesiastical union in each field, 
along with the maintenance of organic relations on 



86 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

the part of the missionaries to the home Churches. 
This was the reason for introducing in the second 
section the expedient of recognizing a part of a 
missionary Presbytery as entitled to representation 
in the General Assembly — the other parts being 
represented in their respective home assemblies; 
and this was also one of the reasons for limiting 
the right of appeal to the highest Church court of 
the country in question. 

The General Assembly, however, hesitated to 
adopt these resolutions so carefully drawn up by 
the Board of Foreign Missions. They doubted the 
advisability of those portions of the report re- 
lating to appeals, certain practical matters, and 
representation in cases where several Missions 
were in the same field. (57.3) Hence the report 
was referred to a Committee and the resolutions, 
amended so as to provide for these objections, 
were not passed until 1879. The amended resolu- 
tions as passed, however, reaffirm the clause that 
interests us most in connection with this chapter, 
viz., "that each Presbytery shall consist of all the 
ministers, native and foreign. " (48.28) 

But the question was not an academic one; 
issues of practical policy in Church formation 
caused it to come up again. The General As- 
sembly of 1886 (48.29) appointed a Special Com- 
mittee to go into the whole subject of the ec- 
clesiastical relation of American ordained mission- 
aries. This Committee, in 1887, made an elaborate 
report containing the last official and explicit ruling 
of the General Assembly on this difficult question. 
The report recognized the connection of this ques- 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 87 

tion with the cause of Church union, the danger of 
wounding the feelings of missionaries, and the dif- 
ficulty of laying down a rule which, while ex- 
pedient in one region, might not be so in another; 
or which, while it might ultimately serve as a 
good rule, yet might need to be approached grad- 
ually. 

The importance of this official action of 1887 m 
the Presbyterian Church, as well as the light it 
throws upon the difficult problem of this Chapter, 
justifies the perusal, with some care, of a portion 
of the report; 

"There are tw T o opposite extremes as to possible 
methods. One w r ould be to say that all our foreign 
missionaries in all cases where these union bodies are 
organized, and they enter them, must at once and 
entirely sever their connection with the home Pres- 
byteries. But this would be to overlook serious appre- 
hensions which some of the missionaries express, if 
they were thus subjected completely to the rule of 
the foreign bodies in which the natives would have 
control. It would be to overlook the fact that some 
missionaries and some missionary Boards think that 
at least in certain parts of the world it is best for 
the new national Churches that the foreign ministers 
should be only advisory members. It would also be 
to overlook the desirability of keeping up a living 
sympathy between our own Churches at home, and our 
brethren who go to the unevangelized nations, and 
that too by some closer bond than is furnished in our 
Board alone. 

"The opposite extreme would be to say that our 
ordained American missionaries should remain mem- 
bers of the home Presbyteries, or of foreign Presby- 
teries in connection with our own Assembly, and leave 
to the native ministers and Churches the organization 
and control of the Union Presbyteries, except as advice 



88 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

might be allowed from foreign missionaries as advisory 
members. If we concede that there may be cases in 
which this is best, it certainly is not desirable except 
where circumstances compel it. One of the Secretaries 
of the Board in the answer proposed to the inquiry 
of the Presbyterian Council has said, chat 'in order 
to guard this independence of a native Presbytery 
against possible danger arising from inexperience, it 
is the belief of the Board that the ordained mission- 
aries of all the missions represented should be members 
thereof with full powers until such rime as it shall 
be thought best, in view of the advancement of the 
native ministry and the approximation of the native 
Churches to entire self-support, for the foreign Pres- 
byters to withdraw, and leave the national Church 
entirely to its self-control.' This is wise. Besides, 
do we not owe it to our native ministers and Churches 
on our mission fields, to show our confidence and our 
fraternity, by the fullest possible identification of our 
missionaries and their families with these native 
Churches and Presbyteries? Some of the oldest of our 
missionaries write strongly in favor of the most com- 
plete identification that is practicable. 

"Between these two extremes various middle posi- 
tions have been suggested, or are conceivable. Most 
of these bear the impress of local circumstances, and 
are only temporary expedients. What is needed is such 
a declaration of policy as will leave no doubt as to 
the wish of the Church at home, and yet which will 
allow all reasonable liberty of action in peculiar cir- 
cumstances. Your Committee, after the most careful 
consideration, find the solution of the problem, in the 
application of the usual practice of the Church, when 
ministers remove into countries where other Churches 
of our own order and polity exist. That practice is 
to take letters of dismissal from the Presbytery at 
home which they leave, to that within whose bounds 
they remove elsewhere; and if this is not done, then 
by letter or otherwise to satisfy the Presbytery as to 
the course pursued. We do not think that the General 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 89 

Assembly should compel any missionary to join a 
Union Presbytery, and especially not if the result 
must be separation from the home Presbytery; but we 
do believe that it should encourage and stimulate such 
a course as strongly as is possible by its counsel. When 
such a dismissal is taken, and received by the Union 
Presbytery, the missionary would thereby cease to be 
a member of the Presbytery from which he came. . . . 

"The following resolutions are recommended for 
adoption : 

"i. That in order to build up independent national 
Churches holding to the Reformed doctrine and Pres- 
byterian polity on foreign fields, the more general and 
complete identification of our missionaries with the 
native ministers and Churches and other foreign mis- 
sionaries on these fields, is of the most vital impor- 
tance and needs to be pushed as rapidly as is consistent 
with a due regard to the interests of all parties to 
these unions. . . . 

"3. That in the case of our ordained foreign mis- 
sionaries who are not in full membership of Union 
Presbyteries covering the territory where they reside, 
it is urged that so soon as practicable, they become full 
members; and also that when our foreign missionaries 
are full members of these or as rapidly as they become 
such, they are urged to ask letters of dismissal from 
their Presbyteries to these Union Presbyteries; and, it 
is hereby ordered, that so soon as these letters are 
accepted, they cease to be regular members of these 
Presbyteries. 

"4. That in case any missionary thinks it undesir- 
able to make this transfer of ecclesiastical membership, 
the decision as to the question shall be left to the 
home Presbytery to which he belongs; before which 
body, if so desired by it, he shall lay his reasons for 
the delay; and the Presbyteries are requested to use 
patience in dealing with such cases. 

"5. That each home Presbytery shall from year to 
year, in its statistical report, place on a supplementary 
roll, to be published with the remainder of the report 



90 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

in the Minutes of the General Assembly, the names 
of all ordained missionaries who, having been sent out 
by it, are still engaged in our foreign missionary work, 
but who, by joining Union Presbyteries in harmony 
with the Reformed doctrine and Presbyterian polity, 
have severed their former membership with the home 
Presbytery. 

"6. That in all regions where, through the organ- 
ization of Union Presbyteries, there are no Presbyteries 
in connection with this Assembly, each mission organ- 
ized as such under our Board of Foreign Missions 
may send to the General Assembly an ordained mission- 
ary, or ruling elder, as a delegate; and the standing 
rules of the Assembly are hereby so amended that such 
delegate is entitle! to sit as an advisory member in 
the Assembly, and to speak, under the rules, on all 
questions, and that his expenses from his domicile 
in this country to and during the Assembly and return, 
shall be met as those of Commissioners out of the funds 
of the Assembly ; and further that Synods be requested 
to make a suitable provision for a similar representa- 
tion at their meetings. . . ." (48.31) 

This full and explicit statement, which declares 
that the complete identification of missionaries with 
mission Presbyteries is a matter "of the most vital 
importance," and "should be pushed as rapidly" as 
possible, still stands as the ruling of the General 
Assembly. The interesting thing is that, as we 
shall see, it is diametrically opposed to some of the 
best and most experienced judgment in this Church 
to-day. At that time the study of mission policy 
had not become so insistent as at present, and it 
was still a quarter of a century before Edinburgh 
had focused attention on the "Church in the Mis- 
sion Field." 

The Beginnings of a Change in Policy. The 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 91 

beginning of the change in attitude can be seen in 
1892 in a ruling of the Board of Foreign Missions 
concerning the direction of their Manual that or- 
dained missionaries should connect themselves with 
Presbyteries "at the first meeting after their ar- 
rival." (51.2) It was to be henceforth considered 
as "advisory rather than mandatory/' (49.3) 

Another indication that a change in policy was 
gathering momentum in the Board, is seen a few 
years later in their decision that the presence of 
missionaries in native ecclesiastical bodies was not 
a matter of sufficiently vital importance for the 
Board to continue to pay their traveling expenses 
to such assemblies. The principle at stake, however, 
was larger than this one point, and was judged of 
sufficient importance to send a copy of the resolu- 
tion to every mission of the Board. It shows a 
distinct step in advance in devolving responsibilities 
to the native Churches. After pointing out what 
a steadily increasing financial burden to the Board 
such payment of traveling expenses would be, when 
already there were six Synods and twenty-five 
Presbyteries on the foreign field, it continued: 

"The Board further feels that as a point of principle 
and irrespective of the funds which may or may not 
be available, it is a serious question how far it is wise 
or possible for the Board to assume financial respon- 
sibility for the ecclesiastical meetings of the native 
Churches. The Board is in sympathy with the organi- 
zation of Presbyteries and Synods on the foreign field 
wherever the circumstances render them expedient. 
Indeed, it regards the establishment of a vigorous and 
wisely-organized native Church as one of the chief 
objects of missionary effort. But the Board also be- 



92 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

Heves that this native Church should and must become 
self-supporting, and while it freely recognizes the 
necessity for giving some financial aid in the earlier 
stages, yet it feels that such aid does not properly 
extend either for the natives or for the foreign mission- 
aries to the use of missionary funds from America 
for a class of expenditures which at home are generally 
borne by the ministers and elders themselves, many of 
whom are not better able to bear the expense than their 
brethren abroad." (49.6) 

Implicit General Assembly Action in 1898. This 
gradually changing policy in the Board of For- 
eign Missions expressed itself the next year in an 
official action of the General Assembly of the 
Church. For while the policy enunciated in 1838 
and so strongly reaffirmed in 1887 st ^l stands as 
the ruling of the General Assembly, action was 
taken in 1898 which implicitly involves the reverse 
solution of the question. While stated in connec- 
tion with a certain local area, its reference, both in 
the mind of its framer (71) as well as in its 
utilization ever since in the Board's Manual, is 
quite general and was intended to prepare the way 
for missionaries to withdraw from Presbyteries on 
the mission field.* 



*Some have held that the following action of the General As- 
sembly of 1 90 1 requires missionaries to become members of 
Presbyteries in mission fields: "Every Presbytery has oversight 
of the work within its own bounds. If a minister of another 
Presbytery refuses to connect himself with the Presbytery within 
whose bounds he labors, the Presbytery may refuse him permission 
to continue his labors within their bounds, and may complain to 
the Presbytery of which he is a member, in case he continues his 
labors without such permission." (48.32) But evidently the Com- 
mittee of the Assembly that framed this action had in mind minis- 
ters working within the bounds of a Presbytery in the United 
States but refusing to connect themselves with it. cf. (67.1) The 
action of 1898, therefore, is the last referring to the foreign field. 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 93 

It reads: 

"That in the judgment of the Assembly the best 
results of mission work in Brazil and other foreign 
fields will be attained only when right lines of dis- 
tinction are observed between the functions of the 
native Churches and the functions of the foreign Mis- 
sions; the Missions contributing to the establishment 
of the native Churches and looking forward to passing 
on into the regions beyond when their work is done, 
and the native Churches growing up with an indepen- 
dent identity from the beginning, administering their 
own contributions and resources unentangled with any 
responsibility for the administration of the Missions or 
of the funds committed to the Missions." (48.33) 

The next year the direction in the Manual which 
had stood for twenty-six years, but which in 1892 
was made "advisory rather than mandatory," was 
entirely rescinded by the Board. (494) In each of 
the four editions of the "Manual for Use of Mis- 
sionaries" since 1899 the action of the General 
Assembly of 1898 just quoted has been inserted as 
defining the "relations of the Missions and native 
Churches and Presbyteries." (51.3) 

Missionaries as Assessors. So far we have con- 
sidered legislation with reference to two courses 
only — the missionary might retain his ecclesiastical 
connection with the home Church or might trans- 
fer it wholly to the Church on the mission field. 
Still a third possible solution demands attention; 
the missionary might, while retaining full member- 
ship in the home Presbytery, become an assessor * 

*An assessor is a term to express the position of an office-bearer 
whose full standing is in one court which has jurisdiction over him, 
but who is appointed for a longer or a shorter time to act as a 
member of another. 



94 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

in the Presbytery abroad. While some Churches 
of Presbyterian polity at work in India do permit 
such an arrangement* it has never been allowed by 
the Presbyterian Church in the United States. 

The subject came up again when the missionaries 
in Korea asked the Assembly to rule that mission- 
aries who are members of Korean Presbyteries 
should be members of the same only so far as con- 
cerns the rights and privileges of voting and par- 
ticipating in all the proceedings, but that ecclesias- 
tically they should be subject to the authority and 
discipline of their respective Churches, retaining 
their full ecclesiastical connection with those 
Churches. (77.1) But the Assembly held that a 
minister cannot be a member of two Presbyteries 
at the same time. All the more would it be true 
that he could not be at one time a member of two 
independent national Churches. 

Present Practice and Trend for the Future. 
As far as India is concerned, the most recent state- 
ment on this question of the ecclesiastical relation- 
ship of missionaries is found in the "Findings" 
of the Conference held in India by one of the 
Board Secretaries with the Western India Mission. 
This Conference passed a resolution stating that 
while for the present it seemed wise for mission- 
aries to be members of the Indian ecclesiastical 
bodies, they should endeavor to be advisory rather 
than executive members, looking to the time when 
they can withdraw altogether; that they must de- 
crease while the Indian brethren increase. (68.1) 

*For example, the Reformed Church in America and the Scotch 
Presbyterians. 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 95 

In reviewing the Findings of this Conference 
the Board of Foreign Missions showed how earn- 
estly it was seeking a change in missionary practice 
by approving this Finding in a significantly altered 
form: 

"That while the Board still questions the advisa- 
bility of missionaries being members of the Indian 
ecclesiastical bodies, so long as the Mission deems it 
wise that they should be members, they should endeavor 
to be advisory rather than executive members, looking 
to the time when they can withdraw altogether. They 
must decrease while the Indian brethren increase. " 
(49.5) 

As to actual present practice, Presbyterian mis- 
sionaries in India, with but few exceptions, have 
transferred their ecclesiastical relationship to the 
"Presbyterian Church in India," in accord with 
precedents established under the old directions of 
the Board. We have here an example of the unique 
situation of ordained missionaries being connected 
with another Church, and having the right only 
of the floor without vote in their own home 
Church. 

While at present the Board of Foreign Missions 
gives no official direction on this question, leaving 
each recruit to work it out for himself, it is interest- 
ing that the avowed policy of leaders in the Board 
is directly opposed to past rulings of the General 
Assembly and present practice of most foreign mis- 
sionaries. This new position is taken definitely in 
behalf of the native Churches. For example, Dr. 
Arthur J. Brown, one of the four Secretaries of the 
Board, wrote, in 1909 : 



96 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

"The opinion of our Board and of a large and grow- 
ing number of missionaries throughout the world, and 
the plain requirements of our increasingly complicated 
relations with the rapidly growing native Churches, 
are in accord with the declaration of the Executive 
Committee of the Southern Presbyterian Church to 
the General Assembly of 1886: 'The prevailing view 
in our Church favors the method of having Presby- 
teries on mission ground composed exclusively of native 
presbyters, the missionaries holding only advisory rela- 
tions to the Presbytery.' " (67.3) 

The judgment of Dr. Robert E. Speer, another of 
the Board's Secretaries, is as follows : 

"We admit that the view that a missionary should 
never identify himself ecclesiastically with a native 
Church cannot be set up as a fundamental principle. 
Whether we should do so or not depends upon what 
the effect of his course will be upon the realization 
of the ideal of a truly independent national Church. 
We are disposed to believe, however, that that ideal 
and the distinction which certainly exists between such 
a Church and a foreign missionary agency can best 
be served by the missionary's retention of his home 
connection, by the preservation of the integrity of the 
native Church as a national organization, and by 
separate but co-operative activity."* 

Summary of the Presbyterian Position. The 

General Assembly throughout has urged explicity 
that missionaries identify themselves with ecclesias- 
tical bodies on the field; implicitly in one action 
(1898) it opens the way for their withdrawal. As 
to the Board's "Manuals for the Use of Mission- 
aries," from 1862-1904 they contained the explicit 
direction for missionaries to join Presbyteries on 

*The views of Drs. Brown and Speer will be found at length in 
126.2; 124.1; 67.2; 66.1; 65.1. 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 97 

the field; since 1904 they contain no direction but 
quote the implicit action of General Assembly of 
1898. The Board itself at first advised the mission- 
aries to join Presbyteries on the field; in 1892 such 
direction was made advisory only ; at present it has 
no definite rule on the subject, and has long since 
ceased to place any constraint on missionaries to 
take their letters from the home Presbyteries as 
was done in the early years. In actual practice at 
present most Presbyterian missionaries do belong 
to Indian Presbyteries but the trend of expert 
opinion is very distinctly that the time has come to 
withdraw. 

2. The Reformed Church in America. 

The history of the problem of the ecclesiastical 
relationship of the Arcot missionaries to the Indian 
Church is very simple. The General Synod has 
never thought it best for its missionaries to sever 
their connection with it. But as the missionaries 
felt it necessary to help the development of the 
Church from within they became assessors* in the 
Indian Presbyteries, having the power to vote, but 
not subject to them ecclesiastically. This relation- 
ship to the Indian Church has been continued 
throughout its varied history up to the present time. 

3. The American Board. 

Rufus Anderson, that most eminent American 
missionary statesman to whose long service as Sec- 

*See note, page 79. 



98 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

retary of the American Board attention has already- 
been called, held that it is a "fundamental prin- 
ciple . . . that ecclesiastical bodies for native 
Churches and pastors should be exclusively for 
them; the missionaries sustaining to them only the 
relation of advisors." (13.1) This view is reiterated 
in his writings. (7.2) It finds full statement in 
his response to the Prudential Committee in 1856 
at the request of the Committee of Thirteen on his 
recent "Deputation" to India. After disclaiming, 
as he always did, that the American Board at- 
tempted to exercise any ecclesiastical prerogatives 
whatsoever, he discussed the question : 

"Is it expedient that such men should form ecclesi- 
astical relations with the native churches and pastors? 
We think not. It seems to us that simplicity of ar- 
rangement is against it. The true and abiding elements 
in the ecclesiastical body are the native churches and 
the native ministry. Why, therefore, should the mis- 
sionary element be introduced when there is no neces- 
sity for it? And congruity is against it. The mis- 
sionary and the native pastors can never sustain pre- 
cisely the same relations to their common work. There 
is a radical, insurmountable diversity. 

"Separate action will be for the advantage of all 
parties. The independence of the native element will 
be more sure. If missionaries are in the ecclesiastical 
body, they will exert, almost of necessity, a predomi- 
nating influence. The power of self-government will 
be best developed in this way. The native churches 
and ministers must have responsibilities to bear before 
they can learn how to bear them. By this plan there 
will be less danger of embarrassment and disorder when 
the missionaries leave for 'regions beyond.' . . . 

"It may be said that the native body will need 
the wisdom and experience of the missionaries. But 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 99 

all the assistance which is desirable, it would seem, 
may be obtained in the form of counsel. The advisory 
influence which may be exerted according to some 
natural arrangement, and the regulating power which 
necessarily grows out of the disbursement of money, 
will probably suffice for the happiest development of 
the churches that may be formed in any part of the 
world." (12.2) 

Under such strongly held convictions we find 
this policy was adopted by Presbyterians who were 
still working under the American Board, although 
their fellow Presbyterians under the Presbyterian 
Board were adopting the opposite policy. In 1856, 
when the Ahmednagar Mission of the American 
Board was wholly composed of Presbyterians, a 
plan was drawn up in which it was proposed that 
the Indian churches should manage their own af- 
fairs. After outlining a semi-Presbyterian system, 
it provided that "Missionaries shall form no part 
of the Presbytery; but the Mission may appoint 
some one or more of its members to attend the 
meetings of the Presbytery, to give advice in mat- 
ters of difficulty; but no one shall be allowed to 
vote on any question of business except the regular 
members of the Presbytery." The growth in in- 
dependence of the Indian Church was further 
safeguarded : "When a pastor can not be obtained, 
the missionary in charge of the field in which the 
church is situated shall act as pastor of the church. 
... At the meetings of the church the mission- 
ary acting as pastor shall have no vote, though he 
may express his opinions when he thinks best/' 
(12.3) 



100 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

The policy laid down so strongly by Anderson 
before ecclesiastical associations other than the local 
church had been formed has been the general prac- 
tice ever since. Missionaries may be honorary mem- 
bers of a local church, but very few transfer their 
actual membership to India. (120.1) 

As we shall see in Chapter III, the ab extra prin- 
ciple as applied to relationship to the local churches 
has not been so consistently applied to the relation- 
ship of missionaries to the Associations and Unions 
which were formed amongst the churches. 

4. The Baptist Foreign Mission Society. 

According to Baptist polity, as we noted in the 
previous chapter, the ecclesiastical relations of 
every member are limited to the church to which 
he belongs ; there are no ecclesiastical bodies higher 
than the local church. The question, therefore, of 
the ecclesiastical relationship of missionaries on the 
foreign field reduces itself in their case to whether 
or not they shall transfer their church membership 
to the church abroad. 

Their practice in this regard is formulated in the 
"Manual" for the use of missionaries : 

"It is generally advisable for the missionary to 
retain his membership in the home land. His relation 
to the native church is fundamentally different from 
that of the native Christians, and should be kept dis- 
tinct. Moreover, by retaining his membership in this 
country he will have a tie which will be of mutual 
benefit, both to the church and to himself." (22.1) 

In this paragraph two reasons are given for the 
separate relationship — the maintenance of the dis- 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 101 

tinction between the missionary and the Church and 
the strengthening of missionary interest in Amer- 
ica. In India this policy is pursued in order, also, 
to further the aim of putting the government in 
the hands of the Indian Christians who are mem- 
bers of the local church. (120.2) Furthermore, the 
retention of church membership at home enables 
them to maintain the same relationship to all the 
churches in their region, giving to no single church 
pre-eminence by having a missionary attached to 
it. (44) Presbyterians escape this difficulty, since 
their ecclesiastical relationship is to a Presbytery 
or Classis instead of to the local church. 

In the few cases where Baptist missionaries are 
members of a church in India it is usually an Eng- 
lish congregation such as that at Rangoon. (43) 

Since the Baptist Associations and Conventions 
formed in India amongst the churches are not really 
ecclesiastical bodies the relationship of the mis- 
sionary to them is not considered in this chapter. 

5. The Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Reasons Why the Problem does not Arise 
for Methodists. For two reasons the question of 
this chapter does not arise for missionaries of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church working in India. In 
the first place there is but one system in India to 
which they may belong, viz., the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. This body combines in itself both ec- 
clesiastical functions and all functions of mission- 
ary administration. In other words they have no 
"Missions"* as do the Congregationalists, the Pres- 

* See note, page 15. 



102 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

byterians, and the Dutch Reformed, wherein the 
functions of missionary administration are centered 
distinct from ecclesiastical bodies. Missionaries 
of the Churches just named are members of these 
"Missions/' and may or may not transfer their ec- 
clesiastical relations to bodies in India. But this 
choice is not open to the Methodist missionary. 

In the second place the question does not arise 
since there is no independent Methodist Church in 
India as the outgrowth of the Methodist work. The 
missionaries are simply part of the Church ma- 
chinery which has been extended with the advance 
of missionary work. But if there should develop 
an independent Methodist Church in India, then the 
question would have to be faced : Shall the mission- 
ary identify himself with the Church of the land 
in which he serves or of the land from which he 
comes ? 

Precedent in Japan. There has been no gen- 
eral legislation on this question, but light will be 
thrown on what might be done in India by what 
has been done when the independent Methodist 
Church of Japan was established. That the question 
was considered one of some moment is shown by 
the report of the Commission entrusted with the 
formation of this independent Church. It says : 

"One of the most important questions to be deter- 
mined by the Commission was the relation of the 
missionaries of the several Churches to the United 
Church: Should their membership remain with the 
Churches at home or would they better unite with 
the Japanese Church? It will be readily seen that 
no other issue involved could be of more concern to 
the missionary than this. There was a difference of 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 103 

opinion between the missionaries themselves. The 
Commissioners were bound to consider first the wel- 
fare of the new Church, in which harmonious co-oper- 
ation would be a vital element. At the same time 
they could not be indifferent to the judgment and 
preferences of experienced missionaries. ,, (95.10) 

After careful consideration the Commission drew 
up a basis of union which embodied such rights 
as the nature and efficiency of their work seemed 
to demand, proposing that all 

"missionaries shall hold their Conference relation in 
their home Conferences and shall be supported wholly 
by their respective Boards of Missions until recalled. 
In recognition of this aid [certain appropriations] from 
the American Churches, and of his services to the 
Church in Japan every such missionary shall be en- 
titled to all the rights and privileges of membership 
in the Annual Conference to which his work for the 
preceding year has been related, except on questions 
in which the character of Conference relation of Japan- 
ese preachers is involved." (95.20) 

However, as soon as the new "General Confer- 
ence of the Methodist Church of Japan" was or- 
ganized they took up the consideration of this 
problem. To the surprise of all familiar with prec- 
edents in other Japanese Churches, they used that 
new power in offering more than had been stipu- 
lated by the Commission. They resolved that 
every missionary regularly appointed to work in 
co-operation with the Methodist Church of Japan 
should by virtue of such appointment be entitled to 
all the rights and privileges of actual membership 
in the Annual Conference where his service is being 



104 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

rendered, so long as his administration and conduct 
conform to their discipline. (95.3) 

The matter was left for final decision to the 
General Conference in the United States. It was 
decided that the missionaries should retain rela- 
tionship to their Church in America except under 
certain conditions wherein, by a rather cumbrous 
system of transfers, missionaries might hold office 
and exercise other ecclesiastical rights in the Japan- 
ese Church. That missionaries should be work- 
ing beside independent Conferences was a new sit- 
uation. The General Conference met it by author- 
izing the Board of Foreign Missions to recognize 
the existence of what they called a "Mission Coun- 
cil in the East and West Conference of the Japan- 
ese Methodist Church," which Councils were to be 
auxiliary to the Board of Foreign Missions and 
subject to such regulations as they might approve. 

(954) 
Deduction for America. Now the main reason 

for the Commission's proposal in Japan was the 
fact that the Japanese Church was still financially 
dependent. (95.2) Such conditions hold still more 
fully in India. So that taking the decision in 
Japan as a precedent, one may judge that on the 
formation of a Methodist Church in India, mis- 
sionaries would retain their connection with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in America, and would 
seek to be assessors in the newly formed Church 
in India. 



ECCLESIASTICAL RELATIONSHIP 105 

6. Summary. 

We find, therefore, amongst the five Boards con- 
sidered four types of solution of the problem of 
the ecclesiastical relationship of foreign mission- 
aries. The Baptists and Congregationalists retain 
membership in their home churches. The Dutch 
Reformed retain full connection with their home 
Classis, but become assessors abroad. The Pres- 
byterians as a rule have severed their tie to their 
home Church and have become full members of 
the Indian Church. The Methodists include In- 
dians and the functions of a "Mission'' in an ex- 
tension of the home Church system. The next 
chapter will show these solutions in their practical 
working. 



Ill 

HOW IDEAL AND METHOD IN REGARD 
TO ECCLESIASTICAL INDEPENDENCE 
HAVE BEEN REALIZED IN PRACTICE. 

In Chapter I we inquired whether or not the 
parent Churches held as an ideal the ecclesiastical 
independence of Churches on the mission field. In 
Chapter II we endeavored to see whether their 
policies have been to work for the full establish- 
ment of the Indian Church from within or from 
without. In this chapter we purpose to show the 
steps taken in actual practice to develop this in- 
dependence; and the extent to which success has 
been attained. 

i. The American Board. 

Principles Enunciated by Dr. Anderson and the 
American Board. While there never was a greater 
champion of the ideal of "self-governing, self-sup- 
porting, self-propagating'' Churches than Dr. Rufus 
Anderson, there was no hesitation on his part in 
claiming apostolic authority for the missionaries in 
the early stages of Church formation. But in mak- 
ing these claims for the ecclesiastical authority of 
the missionary there was the constant looking for- 
ward to the time when the growing Church could 

106 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 107 

take over all responsibility. In 1845 the Board 
affirmed that 

"missionaries acting under the commission of Christ, 
and with the instructions of the New Testament before 
them, are themselves at first, and subsequently in con- 
nection with the churches they have gathered, the right- 
ful and exclusive judges of what constitutes adequate 
evidence of piety and fitness for church-fellowship in 
professed converts." (1.4) 

Again in 1848 the subject of the ecclesiastical 
relationship of missionaries to the native Churches 
became the subject of an elaborate report by the 
Prudential Committee of the Board. They held 
that the missionary must exercise large powers 
at the beginning. 

"Considering the weakness and waywardness so 
generally found in men just emerging from heathen- 
ism, native pastors must for a time and in certain 
respects be practically subordinate to the missionaries, 
by whom their churches were formed and through 
whom, it may be, they are themselves partially sup- 
ported. This is true also of the mission churches; 
as will be explained in another part of this report. 
Should a practical parity, in all respects, be insisted 
on between the missionaries and the native pastors, in 
the early periods when everything is in a forming state, 
it is not seen how the native ministry can be trained 
to system and order, and enabled to stand alone, or 
even to stand at all. . . . And hence missionaries, 
who entertain the idea that ordination must have the 
effect to place the native pastors at once on a perfect 
equality with themselves, are often backward in in- 
trusting the responsibilities of the pastoral office to 
natives. ... It must be obvious that the view just 
taken of this subject involves no danger to the future 
parity of the native ministry, considered in their rela- 



108 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

tions to each other; for, in the nature of things, the 
missionary office is scarcely more successive and com- 
municable to the native pastors than was the apostolical 
office of evangelists. ,, (1.5) 

This view was re-affirmed on the occasion of the 
Deputation to India in 1854-5. Dr. Anderson in 
this Deputation also held that the duties and rela- 
tions of the missionary implied the power of disci- 
pline. "Native pastors themselves are for a sea- 
son but 'babes in Christ/ children in experience, 
knowledge, and character, and they cannot be on a 
perfect equality with missionaries any more than 
the child with the parent. " (7.3) The Mission, in 
his opinion, should exercise the power of interfer- 
ing authoritatively in case of unsoundness in the 
Indian churches or pastors. "It can, if necessity 
requires, separate the sound part of a church 
from a corrupt part and depose from the pastoral 
office." (7.4) 

The ecclesiastical pronouncements, however, 
made by the Deputation in India awakened con- 
siderable discussion amongst those interested in the 
American Board, so in their reply to the Committee 
of Thirteen appointed to investigate the work of 
the Deputation, the Prudential Committee made 
this fundamental statement. 

"In no case should there be any ecclesiastical control 
exercised by missionaries over the native churches and 
ministers, save that which may grow out of the action 
of bodies composed of both elements. A wise dis- 
bursement of funds will provide all the checks which 
are necessary or proper/' (1.6) 

Missionary Ecclesiastical Organizations: Ma- 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 109 

dura Mission. For exercise of these apostolic 
powers the missionaries of the American Board 
early felt the necessity of some sort of an ecclesias- 
tical association amongst themselves. Several 
such bodies were formed, but the interesting thing 
is that these original ecclesiastical bodies com- 
posed of missionaries "decreased" while in due 
time newly formed Indian Associations or Unions 
"increased." In tracing this history we shall see 
how the independent principles of the American 
Board gave to missionaries the utmost freedom in 
developing ecclesiastical organizations to suit the 
need of the situation as they saw it. What we have 
seen Amoy was permitted to do only after a seven- 
year struggle, and what representatives of the Pres- 
byterian and Dutch Reformed Societies never at- 
tempted in India at all, seemed a matter of course 
under the American Board. 

Thus in the second year of the Madura Mission 
(1836) a Presbytery,* independent of any parent 
Church, was formed out of the nine missionaries. 
Four years later (1840) we find their associated 
Missions of Madura, Madras and Jaffna organizing 
with the utmost flexibility to meet the needs in 
India as they saw them. The resulting ecclesiastical 
organization was called a "Presbytery," but they 
recognized that "the present circumstances of the 
Church connected with the associated Missions are 
such that full comf ormity is not in all respects prac- 
ticable." (17.1) 

In the Madura Mission in 1847 this gave way 

*In the early days of the American Board many of its mission- 
aries were Presbyterians. 



110 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

to the "Ecclesiastical Association," in which all 
missionaries were considered de facto members, with 
the provision that "membership in this body shall 
not of itself be considered by the body as annulling 
or changing any relations previously sustained to 
other ecclesiastical bodies." In one of the distinct 
purposes of this Association we see again their 
minds intent on the discovery of a system of Church 
organization suited to the needs of their field 
rather than a mere copying of what had been known 
in the West. Thus : 

"This body shall aim, as it may be practicable, to 
prepare and recommend to the mission churches a 
system of Church and ecclesiastical polity best adapted 
to promote their purity and increase." (3.10) 

Until such a plan of Church polity shall have been 
formed and adopted by the mission Churches, the 
Constitution declared that 

"every ordained member of the association has the right 
in his own field of labour to organize churches, judge 
of the qualifications necessary for church-membership, 
receive members and attend to the duties of a pastor 
toward his flock. 

"It is considered expedient and proper for a brother 
in any case which appears to him doubtful to refer 
to this body for advice. 

"This body may adopt standing rules for granting 
license to preach the Gospel, ordaining to the Ministry 
or for doing any ecclesiastical business. Till rules 
are adopted, this body may act in each case coming 
before it according to its views of propriety." (3.10) 

This Ecclesiastical Association organized nine 
Churches, licensed two men as preachers, and or- 
dained three as pastors; but after 1857 it did no 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 111 

ecclesiastical work, although it did not wholly dis- 
appear until some years later. (17.3) 

Dr. Anderson was strongly of the opinion that a 
separate ecclesiastical organization was not needed, 
since all ecclesiastical functions could be performed 
by the Mission as such. It was under his influence 
that the Association in Madura became inactive in 

1857- 

In The Ceylon Mission. Similarly, beginning 
with 1 83 1, the Ceylon Mission of the American 
Board had a "Consociation" or "Presbytery" "for 
mutual aid in regulating the concerns of the 
different churches." It was composed of identi- 
cally the same persons as in the Mission but 
with a different President and Clerk, (12.4) 
i. e., with no Ceylonese members. After a life 
of over twenty years and while the Deputation 
of 1854-5 was in Ceylon the Mission resolved "that 
hereafter the business which was formerly trans- 
acted by the ecclesiastical body be transacted by 
the Mission." (7.5) 

Hesitation in Ordaining Pastors. As far as the 
three Missions of the American Board in India and 
Ceylon are concerned the Deputation of 1854-5 may 
be considered a distinct turning point. Up to that 
time the larger ecclesiastical functions were wholly 
in the hands of the Mission. In the three Missions 
of the American Board very few churches had been 
organized, and no men had been ordained. In fact, 
in the oldest Mission — that to the Marathis of 
Western India — there were by 1854 only four 
churches with no Indian office bearers, and hence 
missionaries were invariably pastors. And in the 



112 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

Madura Mission there were only five churches, 
with no Indian office bearers except in a single 
church. (12.5) 

For us now it is almost impossible to realize 
how hesitant missionaries were to ordain men in 
the early days of missions. It is still hard for us 
after a century of proof to have confidence that 
God can work in and through weak, very weak 
vessels. But it was an untried experiment in the 
first quarter of the last century. Can we imagine 
the situation that faced those early workers whose 
only conception of ordained men had been obtained 
from the learned and honored ministry of Amer- 
ica? Before them were immature converts re- 
taining many of the habits acquired in heathenism 
and idolatry; in many cases ignorant and under- 
standing the Gospel in a most imperfect way; and 
worst of all, in the light of the emphasis of those 
days, very lacking in "conviction of sin." Dare 
they ordain from amongst such men? And yet 
one of the first things to realize in any thought of 
devolution is that natives must be ordained. This 
may seem self-evident now ; it was not so evident 
to the missionaries of the American Board — and 
others — before 1850. The thought does not seem 
to have been very explicit that there were ever to 
be Indian churches under the direction of Indian 
pastors. 

In the Marathi Mission. One of the leading ob- 
jects of the Deputation from the American Board 
to India in 1854-5 was to persuade the missionaries 
in that country to commence the practice of or- 
daining Indian pastors. (7.1) The difficulty was 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 113 

not only lack of faith and hope in the missionaries 
but also lack of self-confidence in the converts. Dr. 
Anderson thus comments on the Marathi situation 
in 1854: 

"They might speedily have been ordained as pastors 
of native churches, but the importance of having inde- 
pendent churches formed in different localities, and 
of placing a pastor over each church was not then 
fully understood. The missionary acted as the pastor 
of the church, and perhaps felt that the duties of in- 
structing the church-members in the knowledge of 
Gospel truth, and of disciplining and managing the 
church were beyond the ability of the native preachers. 
Instead of bringing them forward to perform the 
duties of pastors, and throwing responsibility upon 
them, he performed these duties himself and left them 
in the background. The native preachers themselves 
shrunk from the responsibilities of the pastoral office, 
and were at length induced with evident reluctance to 
come forward and receive ordination. They felt that 
they were unfit for such an arduous work as that of 
building the living temple of God. It is our opinion 
now that the system thus pursued was not a good one, 
as it was calculated to keep the native churches too 
long in a state of dependence. ,, (7.9) 

From every angle Dr. Anderson urged upon the 
missionaries a procedure that would lead to the 
formation of independent churches with Indian pas- 
tors as soon as possible. Thus in stating the re- 
lations of the missionary to the churches which 
had been gathered, he says : 

"He has the oversight of those churches which 
have no native pastor and he is the adviser of those 
native pastors who are placed over churches. His aim 
is to bring forward the churches under his care to be 
independent self-sustaining churches as soon as pos- 



114 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

sible; consequently he will continue to perform the 
duties of pastor of any church no longer than is 
necessary. When acting as the adviser of native pastors 
he will be careful to throw as much responsibility 
upon them as he finds they are capable of sustaining 
without injury to the cause. It would be far better 
that a native pastor should be left to make some mis- 
takes in the management of his church than that the 
missionary should relieve him of too much of the 
responsibility/ ' (7.7) 

In the Madura Mission. In the Madura Mis- 
sion also no Indian had been ordained previous to 
the Deputation. We can see how cautiously they 
were approaching this new step even so late as 

1853: 

"We believe that it is safe, under God, to rely on 
some of them more than we have, that properly super- 
intended and advised, they are the laborers we need, 
and that in God's Providence the time has come when 
it is incumbent on us to put more responsibility on 
them. The bearing of that responsibility, if it is not 
too great for them, will do them good. . . . How 
fast it will be safe to proceed in the work of consti- 
tuting our helpers as native pastors we do not say, 
but God is increasing our light on the subject." (5.6) 

Under Dr. Anderson's influence the first pastor 
was ordained, but not to independent charge of 
his church; for in the ordination he was informed 
"that while continuing to receive a part of his 
support from the Board, he would be expected to 
make stated reports to the Mission." (14*3) 

In the Ceylon Mission. The American Ceylon 
Mission, as we have said, ordained its first pastor 
while the Deputation was with them. (144) 
Twenty years later out of twenty fully organized 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 115 

churches six were still in charge of unordained 
men, but they were able to make this witness : 

"The wisdom of committing the churches organized 
to the care of native pastors, as fast as suitable men 
for the office can be obtained, is more and more mani- 
fest each year. The successful working of the plan 
has greatly exceeded our expectations, and in con- 
tinuing it we have every reason to hope for steady 
progress in the efficiency and usefulness of both pastors 
and churches. " (1.8) 

That the Ceylon Mission has not yet been able 
to solve this problem, and that an outsider does 
not wholly understand why it should not be solved, 
is seen from the report of the Committee on Life 
Work and Statistics of the South India United 
Church, with which the churches of this Mission 
are now connected : "In Jaffna unordained men are 
placed over nine pastorates. Why these men are 
not ordained we do not know. It is not because 
the churches are unable to support the pastor, for 
some laymen are marked as presiding over churches 
wholly supported by Indian funds/' (128.4) 

The same report said that the Madura Councils 
had a fully developed pastorate in 191 1. In review- 
ing this history of long delay in the ordination of 
Indian pastors one must not get the impression 
that the difficulty lay wholly in the inertia of the 
missionary. As we saw above, the Indians them- 
selves were distrustful of their own powers; in 
many cases they were reluctant to have any other 
than a missionary as a pastor; and in still other 
cases the people did not see why they should pay 
for a pastor when a catechist was cheaper. But 



116 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

by i875 Ae native pastorate had become fully 
recognized by the American Board as essential, 
even if the realization in practice was still delayed. 

(151) 

Indigenous Ecclesiastical Organizations Es- 
tablished : Marathi Mission. After the Deputation 
the first plan suggested by which the Indian 
churches might manage their own ecclesiastical af- 
fairs proceeded from the Ahmadnagar Mission, be- 
fore the various Missions in the Bombay Presi- 
dency were united into one Marathi Mission. In 
June, 1856, a distinct advance was proposed. 
Churches were to have officers and the missionary 
was to be pastor only when an Indian pastor could 
not be obtained; and at the church business meet- 
ings the missionary acting as pastor was to have 
no vote, although he might express his opinion 
when he wished. The pastors (if they approved 
of the plan) were to be organized into an ecclesias- 
tical body called a "Presbytery/' of which the mis- 
sionaries were to form no part, although the Mis- 
sion might appoint some one or more of its mem- 
bers to attend the meetings of the Presbytery and 
to give advice in matters of difficulty; but no one 
was to be allowed to vote on any question of busi- 
ness except the regular members of the Presbytery. 
The organization was not wholly according to the 
Presbyterian model, since the lay delegates were 
not ruling elders; nor according to the Congrega- 
tionalist system, since very large powers were given 
to the Presbytery. This plan was never actually 
put in force, but it shows the principles upon which 
the Mission was desirous of acting. (12.3) Secre- 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 117 

tary Anderson was not eager for the more com- 
plicated ecclesiastical machinery to be introduced. 
He had cautioned them at the time of the Deputa- 
tion against premature elaborate organization: 

"It is vain to attempt the direct propagation of 
either of the religious sects of Christendom, as such, 
in pagan lands. The native Christian community in 
its infant state is not prepared for artificial, compli- 
cated organization; nor can it be placed in them with- 
out prolonging the period of its pupilage, and even 
imperiling its becoming a self-governing, self-sustaining 
Church. The missionary, at first, must carry these 
Churches, like a nurse, in his arms; and then he must 
cautiously train them to stand and walk alone. The 
simplest of all organizations, such as we find only in 
the inspired Word, are the ones for him and for them, 
and missionaries and their patrons should not be im- 
patient to determine what the more complicated forms 
will be, that shall result from the progress of their 
Christian life." (7.8) 

The General Union. We have, then, a Mission 
continuing for over half a century to be the only 
ecclesiastical body in its field. It was the Mission 
that examined and licensed preachers. After forty 
years the first pastors were ordained. However, 
by 1864 the churches had increased to twenty-three 
and the need was really felt for an indigenous ec- 
clesiastical organization. The missionaries, there- 
fore, and the pastors in connection with the Mission 
met and drew up a constitution for an Aikya or 
Union. This Constitution was finally adopted in 
1865 at a meeting where three pastors and delegates 
from nine churches were present, as well as eight 
missionaries who sat only as corresponding mem- 
bers. An Indian was in the Chair. (4.5) 



118 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

It was a crucial moment for this portion of the 
Indian Church. Here was a group of missionaries, 
who for years had laboured and prayed that there 
might be a really independent Church; at last, just 
a little over fifty years since the Mission was 
started, they were urging the adolescent churches to 
stand out and assume responsibilities of their own. 

It was the missionaries who proposed to assist ab 
extra; it was the inexperienced Indian churchmen 
who urged that the missionaries should be mem- 
bers of the new Union. They said that missionaries 
should be in the Aikya because they were the act- 
ing pastors of most of the churches; and held that 
the mother teaches her child to walk by leading 
him, and not merely by telling him how. The 
missionaries, however, argued that though in such 
delicate matters as the guidance of the churches the 
teaching of the missionary is a necessity, yet they 
had been carried and led for many years, and it was 
time at last for them to stand on their own feet and 
learn to walk alone. Furthermore, the missionaries 
explained that so long as they remained responsible 
the people would not give their minds thoroughly 
to the work, and would not gain independent 
power to overcome difficulties. (4.2) This funda- 
mental educational question was finally settled 
without a dissenting vote, leaving the Indians re- 
sponsible. The organization had to do, in general, 
with whatever pertained to the common interests 
of the churches connected with the Union ; express- 
ing its opinion in regard to general principles 
whether of doctrine or morals; licensing and or- 
daining men, etc. 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 119 

After reading the record written by the Indian 
Clerk of the protracted discussions with which the 
seven articles of this first Constitution were finally 
passed, it cannot but be with emotion that one 
reads the closing paragraph: 

It was then resolved that, whereas the union of 
our churches would not have been formed but for the 
exertions of the Mission, this assembly presents its best 
thanks to the Mission for inaugurating this excellent 
arrangement, in accordance with the practice of Chris- 
tian lands, though new to us, and for their personal 
attendance at our meetings, and for their giving advice 
as well as information concerning the modes of pro- 
cedure in the Churches and deliberative assemblies of 
America, and that the Clerk forward this resolution 
by letter to the Mission. 

Then with thanksgiving to God and prayer, the 
assembly adjourned. 

(Signed) 

Shahoo. Dajee, Clerk. (4.3) 

Local Unions. During the past fifteen years 
local Aikyas have been developed. Many of the 
powers and duties of the General Aikya have 
devolved upon these local bodies, which have come 
to occupy the position of County Conferences or 
Associations in America, being responsible for or- 
dinations and ministerial standing, and being the 
bodies directly to manage the support of the weaker 
churches. (16.5) 

Continued Guidance by the Mission. There 
was still much need for guidance and, as we shall 
see in Chapter VI, the Church was far from in- 
dependent in any full sense. In so far as they 
remained financially dependent on the Mission, it 



120 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

was possible for coercion to be exercised; but it 
was a great step in advance that, while the Mis- 
sion might make suggestions, the final responsibility 
for decision had been placed upon them alone. 

We will give a few concrete examples taken from 
the Mission Minutes showing how the Mission 
henceforth tried to work through the General Aikya 
or Union, viz. : 

"Resolved, That we urge all churches not now in 
the General Aikya to join at once." (2.3) 

"Resolved, That without the permission of the 
Standing Committee of the General Aikya no new 
churches shall be established or new pastors be or- 
dained. It is understood that this rule applies to 
churches independent of the Mission, but which are 
in the General Aikya/' (2.4) 

"Resolved, That through the General Aikya now 
assembled, we recommend to all the churches connected 
with the mission the thoughtful consideration of the 
individual communion cups — simply for sanitary rea- 
sons." (2.5) 

Or they might take up with a representative body 
from the Aikya and the Indian Christian com- 
munity the consideration of the expediency of 
ordaining evangelists who should administer the 
ordinances of Christianity to such feeble churches 
as are not able to call pastors. (2.6) As a final 
example of the methods of the Mission we may 
note that in 1895 they adopted a Hand-book of 
Church Procedure. The Mission Committee had 
an interview with the Union of Native Churches 
at which they explained the steps that had been 
taken in the preparation of the Hand-book and 
the object that the Mission had in view in its prepa- 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 121 

ration so as to prevent any possible misapprehen- 
sions that might arise with reference to it. Further- 
more, the following resolution was printed as a 
preface to the New Hand-book: 

"That we express our approval of the Manual of 
Church Procedure as prepared by our Committee, and 
we hereby strongly urge the churches in our connec- 
tion to adopt it as their rule for guidance both in their 
internal affairs and in their relations to the other 
churches, in the interest of good order, harmony and 
spiritual growth." (2.2^ 

And yet, with this evident desire to give the 
Indian his rightful place, there was still rather a 
careful oversight on the part of the missionary. 
Almost every church was virtually in the charge 
of some missionary. (4.4) It is somewhat of a 
surprise to find that the 1904 edition of the Regu- 
lations of the American Marathi Mission carried 
over two rules found in the 1876 edition, namely: 

"Each member of the Mission shall keep a record of 
the additions to the churches in his district, by letter 
or profession, the dismissions, excommunications, deaths, 
baptisms, marriages, and other changes. 

"The missionary in charge of a district shall have 
the supervision of the native pastors in that district, 
and of such churches in his district as are without a 
native pastor. If there be more than one missionary 
stationed in a district, the Mission shall decide in 
regard to the superintendence of the church or churches 
in that district. ,, (8.1) 

Even the ideal, however, as held by the parent 
Church has not gripped the imagination of the 
masses. Some of the educated leaders in the In- 
dian Church call for greater responsibilities, but 



122 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

the masses are not beyond surprise at the ideal held 
out before them. For example, in the Marathi Mis- 
sion at the centenary celebration in 1913, after re- 
viewing the century of sacrifice and service of 
American missionaries to India, a most earnest 
appeal was made to the Indians to consider more 
seriously the question of the aggressive independ- 
ence of the Indian Church; and they were assured 
that Christians in India can hardly imagine the 
satisfaction this would bring to the Christians of 
America who have, for a century, given with the 
expectation and the prayer that speedily the Church 
of Christ in India would become an independent, 
self-supporting, and self-extending Church. This 
official letter produced a profound impression on 
the Indian Christians. (16.2) 

Indigenous Ecclesiastical Bodies : Madura Mis- 
sion. Let us go back now to the period of the 
Deputation and trace indigenous ecclesiastical 
developments in the Madura Mission. In one dis- 
trict especially, the effect of Dr. Anderson's em- 
phasis on church organization led to very definite 
action. Rev. H. S. Taylor, in charge of the Manda- 
hasalie district, organized five churches immediately 
following the Deputation. On learning of the clear- 
cut statement of the Prudential Committee referred 
to above, viz., that "in no case should there be any 
ecclesiastical control exercised by missionaries over 
the native churches and ministers. . . ." (1.6), 
he proceeded in 1857 to organize his little group of 
churches into an ecclesiastical body called a Sangam. 
This Society was composed of the Indian pastors 
and delegates from the churches in his district, 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 123 

with himself, as missionary, enrolled simply as ad- 
viser. Churches had to hold a common confession 
of faith in order to come into this Sangam. Its 
object was the good of the churches, which might 
seek its advice, or advice might be given unasked 
if it was thought proper. This Society was given 
the power to organize new churches and to ordain 
pastors. 

The Mission, however, took action disapproving 
the formation of this independent ecclesiastical 
body. For one thing the Mission held that such 
an independent body should not, without the con- 
sent of the Mission, ordain men over churches 
with the implied pledge that the Mission would 
assist in the support of such pastors. 

Realizing that some positive action was necessary 
the Mission in 1858 adopted a set of rules for their 
guidance with reference to the establishment of 
ecclesiastical bodies. They decided that such a 
body might be formed " where there are three or 
more ordained native pastors, and as many churches, 
wishing to be united in such a body;" that "mis- 
sionaries shall be advisory members of the body;" 
that as a Mission they would not support pastors 
who were not ordained according to these rules. 
Their object in this set of rules was well given in 
the following resolution adopted by the Mission : 

"The Mission has no disposition to state, or to 
limit the abstract powers of a native pastor, or church, 
or of any assembly of pastors and churches, or of a 
brother missionary; still, the Mission has for the 
promotion of peace and good order, among the native 
churches, and for the sake of harmony in its own body, 



124 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

adopted certain rules with regard to ecclesiastical or- 
ganization, which, or something equivalent to which 
in substance, it seems necessary to the proper forma- 
tion and government of the Church and the ordaining 
of pastors." (3.2) 

Since there were only two pastors in Mr. Tay- 
lor's district his Sangam became unlawful if he 
was to remain in harmony with his Mission. An 
appeal was made to the Prudential Committee, 
who affirmed the principle of entire non-interference 
on the part of the Board and its officers on the 
whole subject of ecclesiastical relations and or- 
ganizations. At last Mr. Taylor yielded, largely 
on account of financial reasons. Three years later 
(1861), when there were enough pastors in his dis- 
trict, the Sangam was recognized and it continued 
for some twenty years until displaced by the more 
comprehensive body of which we are about to hear. 

This Sangam affected just one district of the 
Madura Mission. Its significance lies in the revela- 
tion it affords of the way the Mission was feeling 
its way along through those formative years. 

The Madura Church Union. It was not until 
1869, thirty-four years after the foundation of 
the Mission, that they finally organized the churches 
into the "Madura Church Union/' which at last 
took up the ecclesiastical function of the Mission 
under a Constitution framed by three missionaries 
and one Indian. (5.5) Three years later it was 
found best to erect under this Church Union three 
"Local Unions." (17.6) The Constitution, drawn 
up by three Indians and three missionaries, pro- 
vided that 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 125 

"the pastors and delegates of the churches of the Union, 
the missionaries of the American Madura Mission and 
other clergymen connected with the Union shall 
together transact the business of the Union." (io.i) 

One of its four aims was "to raise up self- 
supporting, self-governing and self-propagating 
churches." The duties of the local unions in- 
cluded the examining and licensing of candidates 
for the ministry, the ordination and installation of 
pastors over churches, and the organization of 
churches. (10) 

Flexibility is seen in this organization also. 
For while the effort had been to have the churches 
managed according to the Congregational polity, 
it was soon seen that the looseness of this system 
was not suited to the actual conditions of the 
churches in the stage then reached. The Local 
Unions were formed with less power than that of 
a Presbytery in the Presbyterian polity; and yet 
greater power than that of a Congregational Coun- 
cil. Furthermore there was a greater element of 
permanence than in a "Council." 

Relation of Missionaries to the Union. Al- 
though, as we have just seen, the Constitution pro- 
vided for missionary membership in these Local 
Unions, it was stated in the South India Mission- 
ary Conference of 1879 that " tne missionaries at- 
tend the meetings of these bodies and take part in 
the exercises and deliberations; but in order that 
the native pastor and delegates may have free 
course to develop they refrain from voting on 
questions before the ecclesiastical body." (118.1) 

Later only those missionaries who had official 



126 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

connection with the churches were members of 
these Unions. However, by a rule of the Mission, 
passed many years ago, the office of Treasurer has 
always been held by a missionary, since he is more 
experienced and has better conveniences for keep- 
ing and administering funds than any of the Indian 
members of the churches. The decision as to the 
use of funds in hand; the election of church and 
Union officers ; the disciplining of erring members ; 
the ordination, installation and dismissal of pastors, 
etc. — all these (with the exception that a pastor be- 
fore ordination must be approved for the office 
by the Mission) are in the hands of the churches 
and Unions. It is evident, therefore, that the Mis- 
sion stands in the relation of counsellor to the 
churches and Unions, rather than that of director. 

(54) 
Glimpses of its Working. If one looks over the 

minutes of the meetings of the Mission one gets 
glimpses into that guidance and control, still felt to 
be necessary for the Indian Church. The following 
are examples taken from the past twenty-five years : 

"that hereafter whenever one of our churches intends 
to extend a call to a man to become its pastor per- 
mission shall be first obtained from the Mission for 
that purpose. ,, (3.3) 

"Resolved, That it is inconsistent with Christian 
principles to indicate differences of caste in any church 
records or Mission registers; and the Mission expects 
that the use of caste titles for Christians in any such 
documents will be discontinued. " (3.4) 

"The Mission recommends that the churches restrict 
the right of voting to those above 16 years of age." 

(3.5) 

"That in the uniting of any two churches within a 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 127 

Local Union the counsel and aid of the Union should 
be sought." (3.6) 

"That student church members shall transfer their 
membership to the churches of the places where they 
are studying." (3.7) 

"In order to leave the Church Council free to act 
in this matter, we remove the prohibition of marrying 
one's niece, though we still consider such unions un- 
desirable." (3.8) 

In the Ceylon Mission. We have seen that the 
General Aikya was established in the territory of 
the Marathi Mission in 1864, and that the Church 
Union was established in the territory of the 
Madura Mission in 1868. The more complete 
establishment of an ecclesiastical body for the 
churches connected with the Jaffna Mission in Cey- 
lon came still later. It was not until 1903 that they 
adopted a plan whereby the churches may act 
unitedly in all matters of common concern through 
the organization of a Council. This Council was 
given considerable authority, including the organiza- 
tion of churches, the ordination and discipline of 
pastors, preachers, and catechists; the settling of 
disputes between churches, and the disbursing all 
funds raised by the churches for general work 
There were some protests over the large function? 
given to this Council and to the office of Moderator, 
but the need of closer organization was recognized. 
(6.1) This Council of the Congregational Church 
of Ceylon took its place as an important institution 
for promoting the solidarity of the churches, in- 
creasing their activity, and enabling them to take 
a large share in affairs which up to that time had 
been purely in the hands of the Mission. (1.7) 



128 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

The South India United Church. The General 
and Local Aikyas still form the ecclesiastical or- 
ganizations in the territory in which the Marathi 
Mission works. But still further advance than that 
thus far outlined has been made by the churches 
springing from the Madura and Ceylon Missions. 
The training received by the members of the Ma- 
dura and Ceylon (Jaffna) Unions in meeting their 
own local problems was gradually preparing them 
for a larger horizon and union. 

In 1908 was formed the South India United 
Church — a really great achievement in corporate 
union, being the first in India between churches of 
different polity. In it were united churches here- 
tofore connected with the American Board (Ma- 
dura and Jaffna Missions), the London Missionary 
Society (Madras and Travancore) ; the Reformed 
Church in America (the Arcot Mission) and the 
United Free Church of Scotland. For purposes of 
missionary administration South India is still 
divided into "Missions," but in this Church is an 
indigenous organization unconnected with any 
foreign Church, which can go on after Missions 
have ceased to be. At the present stage it has taken 
over charge of little more than its ecclesiastical 
affairs. General administration — the direction of 
evangelists and catechists, the maintenance and con- 
duct of schools and hospitals — is still for the most 
part in the hands of the Missions, although we 
shall see in Chapter VI how methods of devolution 
in these functions also are being adopted by the 
Missions. In polity it is unlike any of the mother 
Churches. While its Constitution, providing for 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 129 

three courts (congregation, Council and General 
Assembly), looks Presbyterian, yet since each 
Council possesses only such power as is delegated 
to it by the churches, it is to that extent Congrega- 
tional. It has aimed to balance powers between over- 
centralization on the one hand and unrestricted in- 
dividualism on the other. 

Heretofore the Indian Christians had been ac- 
customed to associate themselves in thought w r ith a 
Mission organization, but now there is a suggestion 
in the very organization that they are free to work 
out their own destiny. Comparing statistics and 
reports from the different sections of the Church 
there is evidence that they are themselves exhibit- 
ing emulation, profiting by other Indian models and 
acquiring esprit de corps. (128.1) 

This means of necessity a changed attitude on 
the part of the missionary. One thus expresses it : 

"To-day we stand as the stewards of the South 
India United Church, whereas yesterday we stood as 
the representatives of a western Church. It is diffi- 
cult to realize the change which this necessitates, not 
in our treatment of our Mission agents, but in our 
thought concerning them. They to-day accompany 
the missionary as delegates to the Assembly, whereas 
before they were the children of the missionary, relying 
upon him for decision and direction. This is just one 
illustration of the change that has come over the mis- 
sionary situation in the last few years.' ' (113.7) 

The Relation of Missionaries to the S. I. U. C. 

The part of missionaries in establishing this Church 
is well expressed in the "History of the Union" 
given at its first Assembly in 1908. It reads : 



130 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

"It may be noted in passing that without the in- 
terest in the movement on the part of missionaries 
on the one hand, and the pastors and members of the 
Indian Church on the other, nothing of any value 
could have been accomplished. It was natural that 
a considerable share in the task of bringing about the 
union should fall to missionaries. The opportunities 
they had of fellowship and conference, and their knowl- 
edge of movements in other lands, made it natural 
that they should take the lead. But they could have 
done nothing had there not been in the Church itself 
a strong feeling that the course proposed was the 
right one, and on the part of some of these there 
was not only acquiescence but hearty co-operation. It 
must be remembered, too, that if missionaries have taken 
a prominent part in the effort, they have done so with 
no selfish motive. In the new Church they will have 
far less authority than many of them had under the 
old system. What they have done has been for the 
advancement of the Church to a condition of independ- 
ence, in which it will increase." (128.2) 

As to the relationship of the missionary to the 
local church the Constitution says : "So long as a 
church has official connection with a Mission the 
Mission has the right to appoint a representative on 
the Session or Church Committee." (128.3) So 
that the pastor of a self-supporting church is not 
under a missionary, but has independent charge of 
his church under the Council. Since "a Church 
Council is composed of all the ministers and lay 
representatives of the churches/' ordained mis- 
sionaries are ex officio members with voting power. 
But in the two Councils covering the Madura Mis- 
sions the missionaries form a very small minority 
and in practice often do not attend. In the General 
Assembly representation of missionaries is left to 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 131 

the result of the General election. Although 
theoretically no distinction is made between mis- 
sionaries and Indians it is clearly understood that 
the former are to constitute a fair proportion of 
the delegates. (87) 

Of the four Moderators of the General Assembly 
two have been Indian. The Conveners of most of 
the Committees are still missionaries, but the 
majority on practically all committees are Indians. 
Missionaries at present compose about one-fourth 
of the Assembly, but this ratio will naturally de- 
crease. 

2. The American Baptist Mission Society. 

We have seen that in the aim of the American 
Baptist Foreign Mission Society, at first implicitly 
anl later explicitly, there was the ideal of the in- 
dependent, organized church, along with the policy 
of working for this ab extra. 

Running the eye quickly over the century since 
this Society began its work we seen several outstand- 
ing facts with reference to the devolution of eo 
clesiastical powers to the Indian Church. 

Hesitation Over Ordaining Men. Here again, 
as in the study of the work of the American Board, 
the first thing that strikes our attention is the 
reluctance in ordaining men. In fact, the first Bur- 
man pastor w^s ordained practically as the result 
of an irregularity over which the missionaries had 
no control, and this ordination in 1829 does not 
seem to have been taken as a precedent. For it was 
not until the Burman Mission was almost thirty 



132 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

years old that Mr. Abbott in 1843 felt compelled 
to ordain two men. This was done, however, with 
opposition on the field, and by no means with 
hearty support from America. But the daring ex- 
periment succeeded and other ordinations followed. 
The point we need to note is that there was a 
definite shrinking from taking this step in devolu- 
tion. (34.1) 

Just a year before the Deputation of the Ameri- 
can Board to its Missions in India, the Baptists 
sent a Deputation to Burma. One of the labours 
of this Deputation also was to arrange for "the 
ordination of a larger number of native pastors." 
(36.1) Their report, adopted at a special Mission- 
ary Convention in Maulmain in 1853, contains both 
a warning against delay in ordination and a judg- 
ment that abundant material was available if eyes 
were open to see it. 

"We have reached a period in the history of our 
missions when this subject demands the most profound 
and prayerful attention. ... A long continued 
supervision your committee believe would be attended 
with many serious evil results. It would engender 
feebleness in the native churches and incapacitate them 
for that state of independence and self-sustentation 
designed for the great Head of the Church. It would 
accustom the native converts to a style of ministry 
which can in vain be looked for from a native pastorate 
when circumstances shall compel its employment. 

"In addition there are more than 120 native preach- 
ers connected with these churches, many of whom 
until recently have been inaccessible to the missionary 
in Burma. These men (or most of them) have been 
raised up by God Himself and endowed with gifts 
and qualifications for the ministry of the Word. They 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 133 

have sat side by side with your missionaries in the 
zayat, they have stood with them in the field of active 
service, they have been entrusted with the gospel, and 
have wended their weary way to the distant jungle 
and preached the crucified Saviour in the vales and 
on the mountain tops, relying alone upon Him who 
had called them; they have made the jungle vocal 
with the praises of God, so that the missionary follow- 
ing in their footsteps has found the wilderness bud- 
ding and blossoming as the rose. These are tried men, 
they have met persecution and have not quailed, they 
have been reviled from day to day and have not 
fainted, they have been subjected to stripes and im- 
prisonment, the naked sword has been suspended over 
them — but all in vain. 

"Your committee would recommend the most serious 
attention of this convention and of every missionary 
to this subject, and that pastors be ordained for every 
church just so soon as suitable men qualified as the 
Scriptures demand for this important office are raised 
up." (46.2) 

We may the better appreciate the problem pre- 
sented in those early days by this matter of turning 
over pastoral powers, if we look at some of the 
arguments. The Deputation, for example, held 
that missionaries should be evangelistic only, and 
that the pastorate of the churches should be in 
Burman hands. It was objected that this separa- 
tion of missionaries from the pastorate would 
promote prelatical distinctions and ecclesiastical 
domination on the part of missionaries. The 
Deputation held on the other hand that the real 
danger was from introducing distinctions into the 
Burman ministry: 

"As it is now, the churches are tempted to make 
false distinctions between the ordained pastors who 



134 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

visit them at long intervals, and their resident min- 
isters; and to attach superstitious notions to the rites 
which the former only are permitted to administer." 

The whole policy of the Deputation was to free 
the Burman preachers from all liability to domina- 
tion by the missionaries. They even urged, with 
great insight for that day, that the management and 
support of employees of the American Baptist Mis- 
sionary Union be transferred to the churches, so 
that they might be free from missionary adminis- 
trative control also. 

"Missionary superintendence will still be needed, 
but should not be claimed as a matter of right. It 
should be strictly advisory and fraternal. In only this 
way can the essential dangers of prelacy be avoided, 
the independence of the churches encouraged, and the 
largest measure of conscious responsibility placed upon 
the pastor and preacher." (46.3) 

Difficulty in Founding Churches. The Telegu 
field offers a very interesting illustration of a 
second fact in the study of the ecclesiastical devo- 
lution amongst the Baptist Missions — the extreme 
difficulty of organizing converts into local churches. 
Such organization may seem very simple and 
natural, but in reality it has been one of the hardest 
and most persistent problems of this great Mission. 
We do not need to go back to 1853 to find it taxing 
the energies of both the home authorities and of 
the missionaries on the field. As late as 1902 the 
Executive Committee of the American Baptist Mis- 
sionary Union wrote to their missionaries in the 
Telegu Mission that: 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 135 

"They believe that this beyond any other is the 
problem of the Telegu Mission exceedingly important 
in itself and underlying other problems. Your reports 
show that there are few definitely constituted churches. 
Thus far the work has largely followed the Old Tes- 
tament type.' , (24.2) 

But what kind of churches should be organized? 
The Executive Committee outlined two plans of 
church organization: one contemplated the estab- 
lishment of a church in each village; the other the 
establishing of central churches each representing 
a group of villages. The Executive Committee 
favoured the latter plan since the village plan would 
result in churches with too limited membership for 
adequate Christian fellowship and also would make 
pastoral support almost impossible. The extreme 
of this type is founa m tne Ongole Church which 
a few years ago was spoken of as "the largest 
church in the world," having on its rolls 20,000 
names. But it was simply one organization for a 
whole district of 279 villages so that local responsi- 
bility and development was impossible. 

Another question that demanded much thought 
and experiment was the determination of the 
minimum qualifications for constituting a church. 
The Telegu Mission Conference thought a church 
might be organized if there were not less than 
fifty members," (27.1) the Executive Committee 
at home considered the number suggested very 
small. (24.3) In other respects than numbers it 
was hard to set the minimum qualifications for the 
constitution of a church. The Telegu Mission Con- 
ference in 1902 adopted the following three con- 



136 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

ditions : the reception, discipline and dismissal of 
members ; the maintenance of a roll of membership 
and a record of proceedings; stated meetings and 
observances of ordinances. (27.1) 

It is instructive to find thus as late as 1902 
words from the Executive Committee in Boston to 
the Telegu Mission indicative of the difficulty of 
devolution at this fundamental point of church or- 
ganization : 

"The committee recognize that this work of church 
organization will be a work of time. Great wisdom 
will be needed by the missionary, and constant over- 
sight of the churches in their selection of pastors and 
reception of members. The missionary will need to 
keep very closely in touch with pastor and church, 
and for a time his labors may be multiplied rather 
than relieved. But the committee, like yourselves, 
believe that the final result will be worth all its cost, 
and they believe that from this time plans should be 
definitely shaped with a view to the development of 
local church organization and the increasing realiza- 
tion of self-administration in these churches." (24.2) 

Another proof of the real difficulty of this central 
problem is found in the action of the Executive 
Committee in 1905 authorizing the Telegu Mission 
to constitute "a commission for the study of the 
problem of church organization and Christian 
development." (21. 1) 

Here again, as in the study of this problem under 
the American Board, one must not imagine that all 
the difficulty lies with the missionary by any means. 
The Telegu Conference officially states in explana- 
tion of delay that congregations shrink from organ- 
ization "lest this would involve the obligation to 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 137 

support their preacher ;" on the other hand some 
preachers do not encourage the formation of 
churches "because their income through the mis- 
sionary was more sure and regular than they could 
expect from the churches. " (27.2) 

Still further insight into the obstacles from the 
Telegus themselves is found in one of the excellent 
reports of the Commission authorized by the Execu- 
tive Committee in 1905. A survey had been made 
and the detailed results as given in 1907 have their 
significance in estimating difficulties in church or- 
ganization. In part the report was as follows: 

"As to the desire on the part of the Christians for 
churches, ten missionaries see none at all, five think 
there is a little. In Narsaravupett, Mr. Silliman does 
not see much desire, but finds that the people are 
^ery jealous of the traditions of the local church, ob- 
jecting to changes of name or location. Markapur, 
Cumbum, and Kanigiri report a desire on the part of 
the Christians. In Nandyal great interest was shown 
in the organization of the Central Station Church. 
An unusual desire is seen in the Kurnool field. In 
Ongole the desire is said to be growing fast. In Kan- 
dakur a few are becoming active in the matter. 

"As to the desire of the preachers for church organiza- 
tion, five missionaries report them as indifferent, twelve 
report them as favorable, and one reports them as 
opposed. One reports them as opposed when drawing 
mission pay, and one says they are opposed if they 
think there is any danger of self-support following 
organization. In Kandakur four out of eight want to 
organize churches and one is making an active effort 
to do so." (26.2) 

Underlying this apathy on the part of the Telegus 
is the economic difficulty. "Insufficient rainfall for 



138 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

the ten years preceding 1906/' "emigration," "sick- 
ness," etc., are reasons given for lack of success in 
church organization. The writer of the report on 
the State of Mission in 1906 says, 

"Truly the task of working constantly against such 
odds is Herculean and the home constituency should 
not be impatient if greater results in self-support, inde- 
pendence and church organization cannot be reported. 
It is a wonder that any progress can be reported at 
all under such conditions." (26.1) 

Stage of Autonomy Reached. For a judgment 
as to the actual present results of the Baptist policy 
we have to turn to the report of the work of in- 
dividual missionaries. For in the Baptist foreign 
work they have not had since 1859* organized "Mis- 
sions" whose legislation may be considered; nor in 
accordance with their polity is the Church which 
results from their work formally organized into a 
national body like the General Assembly of the 
Presbyterians. Real ecclesiastical autonomy is 
found in the local church alone. Certain forms of 
administrative autonomy may be secured in the ends 
for which the Baptist Associations and Conventions 
stand. Although no authoritative legislation can 
in the nature of the case be considered, an examina- 
tion of individual reports is, however, not without 
its significance. We will be impressed with the 
dependence of results not only upon general princi- 
ples but upon the soil and the personal procedure 
of the missionary. 

Amongst the Telegus. Since nine-tenths of the 

*See pages 139-143. 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 139 

total church membership arising from the work of 
the American Baptist Missionary Society in India 
are found amongst the Telegus and in Burma, we 
will confine our inquiry to these two of their four 
fields in India. The situation with regard to 
autonomy in the first of these fields is well sur- 
veyed in a symposium which in several issues dur- 
ing 1914 appeared in the Baptist Missionary Review 
on the subject: "Are we as missionaries doing all 
we can to promote the independence of the native 
Church?" The very raising of such a question 
points toward the problem which each Society finds 
difficult. Six outstanding and experienced mission- 
aries wrote on this question. 

Rev. D. Downie, D.D., says that it must be ad- 
mitted that they have no local church that is self- 
governing and independent in the full Baptist sense* 
Lamenting this he says : 

"But would it be unreasonable to expect that after 
three-quarters of a century of Mission work whose 
aim is to establish independent churches we might 
have at least one mature full-fledged Baptist church 
in this Mission? Have we such a church? I say 
No, not a single one! We have a few churches that 
are reported as self-supporting and which call and sup- 
port their pastors, and attend to the ordinances and 
discipline of their members. But the best of them 
worship in Mission chapels and are guided and directed 
to a very considerable extent by their missionaries. 
There is not a single church in connection with this 
Mission that is free from Mission aid and more or 
less of Mission control. " (47.3) 

This condition he feels is distinctly due to lack of 



140 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

faith on the part of the missionaries in God, in the 
people and in themselves. 

Rev. Wheeler Boggess writes : 

"It is acknowledged by all of our Baptist mission- 
aries that each local church should be independent 
of all external human control in all matters of dis- 
cipline and government. ... If perchance a church 
should, against her better judgment, yield to outside 
influences for a consideration, she has mortgaged her 
independence and crippled her usefulness. . . . Yet, 
how many churches are content to remain thus en- 
feebled, and how many missionaries seem to desire to 
keep the churches thus mortgaged! Some missionaries 
even usurp the right of passing judgment on every act 
of the church, in matters of discipline as well as in 
matters of finance, because, forsooth, they give to the 
church some financial aid. So long as a church receives 
financial aid it may justly be subject to control in 
the expenditure of that aid; but to usurp the right 
of interference in other matters is surely overstepping 
the missionary's privilege." (47.4) 

Rev. W. L. Ferguson, D.D., shows how little 
theory avails and how resolutely missionaries must 
set themselves to the shifting of responsibilities 
from themselves to Indians, if independence is to 
be secured by the Indian Church. Speaking of a 
time fifteen years ago, when the Telegu Baptist 
Convention formulated clear-cut principles with re- 
gard to church formation, self-support and com- 
plete self-government, he says : 

"We are all fifteen years farther along than we 
were then in discussion and experience; but the thing 
which then was advocated is still largely undone. We 
as missionaries have not organized a very large num- 
ber of churches; we have not placed full responsibility 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 141 

for the conduct of their own affairs upon very many; 
we have not cut oif any considerable number of pastors 
and thrown their support upon the people to whom 
they minister. We have gone on about as we did, 
doing our utmost for the people as a whole, evan- 
gelizing, educating, training. We spend and are being 
spent in the service, and we hope for the day when a 
new order will be inaugurated, when the people shall 
be trained and ready and anxious to assume their own 
burdens, responsibilities and support; but we have 
inaugurated no new policy for bringing this about. 
I believe that we are at fault here. We need more 
courage than we seem at present to possess. And the 
same is true of the Telegu brethren. They discuss 
the questions of independence and self-support in almost 
every annual meeting of the five Associations and of 
the Telugu Baptist Convention. The matter has been 
talked about till it is threadbare. There is no lack of 
enlightenment about the principles of independence 
and the desirability of obtaining it. The difficulty is 
to get the thing done. Achievement is what is needed 
both on the part of churches and individuals. For 
many years they have said that it would be a gain 
to be free from the Mission; but there seems to be 
little alacrity to cut loose from the Mission and from 
foreign support; on the contrary, I think I can discern 
rather a tendency to hold it fast and to ask for 
more. . . . 

"Then, too, we might fulfil our long neglected duty 
of church organization — the establishment, setting 
apart, recognition, or whatever else one wishes to call 
it, of local churches. We have been too slow in this, 
too cautious, in many an instance. We should adopt 
a bolder plan and trust that God will honor our faith 
accordingly. . . . 

"Make leaders and congregations responsible for de- 
ciding and doing a lot of things which the mission 
now decides and does. Do a little pressing in the 
way of development and even be a little ahead in our 
plans of what the people are ready for the moment 



142 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

to take over. At baptisms, weddings, funerals, church 
meetings, reception of members, discipline of members, 
etc., why not stay completely in the background, unless 
something special calls for action." (47.5) 

A somewhat different local report is given by 
Rev. W. A. Stanton, who for twenty years has 
worked in the Kurnool field. Of the main church 
he says : 

"The church is entirely self-governing. It receives 
and disciplines its members. . . . The church has 
its deacons, its clerk and its treasurer and is as truly 
independent as any church I know of in America. 
The function of the missionary in relation to this 
church is purely inspirational. He does not attend 
the business meetings, he has nothing to do with its 
government. He has not interfered with any of its 
church affairs for the past ten years. He visits the 
church on tours and holds special services for the 
edification, reviving and quickening of the members, 
but has nothing to do with its internal affairs. . . . 

"We have eight of these churches on our field — 
not all of them as prosperous and as advanced as the 
Atmakur church, but all of them working out their 
own salvation. They all have their pastors, their 
schools, their deacons, and all administer their affairs, 
sometimes, to be sure, in a pretty poor way. Some- 
times they get into a rut and stick there for a good 
long time, but they are all on the road to a full and 
complete church life. The Mission is not carrying 
them. They are standing on their own legs, though 
sometimes, like the Indian ox we so often see, they 
lie down under the load. We help them to get up, 
but they must go on again, until they get strong under 
the load." (47.6) 

Yet taking the Telegu field as a whole, he says : 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 143 

" While most of the older fields at least have here 
and there a village church, the great mass of the Chris- 
tians on the field are members of the 'Station' or 
'Mission' Church, as it is called, many of them living 
thirty or forty miles away from the center, destitute 
of the ordinances save as the missionary visits them, 
and quite without that sense of responsibility which 
can come only from an organized church life. We 
know that this is not ideal. . . . We have too long 
robbed our Telegu Christians of their heritage." 
(47.7) 

This general judgment is not contradicted by any 
of the six contributors to the Symposium. It is 
still further confirmed by a perusal of the annual 
reports on the "State of the Mission" by the Telegu 
Mission Conference, which since 1907 has made 
especially thorough surveys of their field by a com- 
mittee on this subject. (24.1) 

Amongst the Karens. If now we turn to the 
other great mission of the American Baptist So- 
ciety in India we find a far different situation. If 
the Baptist policy was to be judged by the record 
of the Karen churches alone, it would seem indeed 
uniquely successful. Ever since Rev. C. H. Car- 
penter published in 1883 that influential book "Self 
Support in Bassein" (34) the Baptist Karen mis- 
sion has stood out in all the world as noteworthy 
for self-support and self-government. Most of the 
Karen churches have never known what it is to be 
under control in their local affairs. They have been 
taught from the first to be autonomous. (47.2) 

At the recent Continuation Committee Con- 
ference at Rangoon it was stated: 

"On the Bassein field, with a membership of 14,000 



144 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

and but one missionary to aid in the work, education- 
ally and ecclesiastically; where every church has its 
own chosen pastor and supports him and is wholly 
responsible for its own discipline and where no foreign 
money has been used for well nigh a generation ; where 
they have endowed their own High School to the 
extent of about a lac and a half, carrying on an indus- 
trial plant from a part of their endowment capital, 
being raised for that purpose, and sending out their 
own missionaries to foreign parts as well as assisting 
their own weak churches on the field; when the mis- 
sionary has no official authority except that which his 
personal influence and character may afford, leaving 
him free to act with his brethren simply as a Chris- 
tian brother and fellow worker, rather than an almoner 
of foreign funds, and therefore allowing a basis of 
delightful fellowship with them in the work, it would 
seem it will be but a step further to a complete trans- 
fer of the work and responsibility upon them." 
(122.17) 

Of Moulmain, an advanced field, the statement 
is made: 

"As to self-direction, these are facts on this mis- 
sion field: every church calls its own pastor, renders 
him more or less help financially, and severs the con- 
nection when they think it best to do so, sometimes 
with the knowledge of the missionary, sometimes with- 
out. Every church exercises its own discipline, ad- 
mitting, suspending, or excluding members entirely by 
its own vote. Every church collects its own contri- 
butions, and then decides by its own vote where each 
rupee shall go." (47.2) 

The Tavoy field is said to be the poorest of the 
Karen fields and yet of this Rev. B. P. Cross 
writes : 

"As to the government of the churches, I think 
it would be correct to call it autonomous, although 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 145 

they look to the Association (of Baptist churches) 
for help and guidance in choosing a pastor, establishing 
a new church and other important matters." 

In other words local autonomy is modified by the 
custom of asking advice and counsel from the as- 
sociation of sister churches, so that this report from 
the weakest of the Karen churches reveals a con- 
dition essentially the same as in America. (47.2) 
Rev. D. C. Gilmore, who at the special request of 
the American Baptist Mission in Burma has given 
special attention to the subject of the autonomy of 
the native church, writes what may be taken as 
authoritative : 

"The missionaries as a rule try to teach the churches 
to rely on themselves in the conduct of their own 
affairs." 

The Rev. L. W. Cronkhite, D.D., of Bassein, 
writes : 

"On principle I have always kept myself almost 
absolutely out of the internal affairs of our Karen 
churches. I advise them when asked, occasionally, 
though rarely, when not asked, but never undertake 
any control whatever. It has seemed to me that while 
the churches may lose in many individual cases, and 
the road to success is long, it should be followed. A 
number of missionaries make it their custom not to 
attend the business meetings of the Karen churches in 
their stations, even though they know their presence 
would be welcome, because they wish the churches 
to realize their own powers and responsibilities in the 
conduct of their own affairs. . . . 

"But would not the missionary intervene in case the 
church was falling into such laxity of discipline, for 



146 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

instance, as was likely to bring discredit on the Chris- 
tian name? He might, and probably would, inter- 
vene; but his intervention would not be by way of 
control. He would offer advice, and even expostula- 
tion ; but any constraint put upon a local church would 
be the action of the Association; not the missionary. 
A Karen Baptist church is on the same footing as a 
Baptist church in America in this respect. 

"So far then as the local churches, the individual 
congregations are concerned, the situation is accurately 
summed up by Mr. Bushell: 'The Karen Church 
understands that it is entirely independent of any 
man, or body of men, on earth, and responsible only 
to Christ ; and it is impossible to confer more autonomy 
upon them than they enjoy. . . . 

"What then is the relation of the missionary to the 
Karen churches? In the first place he is looked upon 
as their 'constitutional adviser.' ... It is to the 
missionary (though not exclusively to him) that the 
pastors come for advice and encouragement, and the 
missionary feels at liberty to offer advice to the pastors 
when he thinks they need it." (47.2) 

Such judgments find confirmation in manuscript 
replies to Commission No. II of the Edinburgh 
Convention in 1910. (120.4) 

The Determinative Effects of Environment. 
We have taken the Telegu and the Karen Mis- 
sions to illustrate strikingly the difference in re- 
sults that may be obtained by the same Society 
sending out in general the same type of men to dif- 
ferent areas. The remarkable success amongst the 
Karens is undoubtedly due to a combination of 
two distinct factors : missionaries who held with 
tenacity and persistence to an ideal of self-support 
and independence for the Karen Church; and 
secondly economic and social conditions that dif- 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 147 

ferentiate them from almost all other peoples of 
India. If Abbott and Harris and Carpenter and 
Price had been up in the Telegu district, and if it 
be taken for granted that in this very different 
social and economic environment their theories of 
missions had been able to develop in their own 
minds, it is practically unquestionable that Karen 
results could not have been produced in the Telegu 
region. Here famines are frequent, land is hard 
to get, the people seldom have enough to eat, de- 
pendence characterizes every aspect of the people. 
On the other hand the Karens are prosperous, 
peasant proprietors, the monsoon never fails and 
famine is unknown. 

But not only is there a marked difference be- 
tween the results of the Telegu and Burman Mis- 
sions, but within the Burman Mission itself the 
difference in results as to number of converts, self- 
support and independence between the Karen sec- 
tion and the section for the Burmans proper is 
almost proverbial. Still more striking is the fact 
that even within the Karen Mission economic causes 
markedly change results. For example, the great 
results are amongst the plains people. The hill 
Karens are poor, they have a hard struggle to live 
and self-support has made less progress amongst 
them than amongst the people of the plains. (47.2) 

While no one would, perhaps, question the fact 
that economic and social factors tremendously af- 
fect the quality and quantity of results, there are 
many to assert that if the principles so splendidly 
carried out amongst the Karens had been patiently, 
persistently, educationally applied in less prosperous 



148 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

regions, the present results in independence would 
be far greater. 

3. The Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. 

In Chapter I we saw that from an early date the 
Presbyterians have held the ideal of an independent 
Church in India. In Chapter II we saw that for 
the last eighty years they have been working intra 
muros for the establishment of such an independent 
Church. Let us attempt to see the practical work- 
ing of the system. 

Presbyteries Begun with Predominant Mission- 
ary Membership and Control. In the first place 
it is to be noted that the first Presbyteries were 
established within a very few years after the 
founding of the Panjab and North India Mis- 
sions, and that the membership and control of such 
Presbyteries was of necessity almost wholly mis- 
sionary. (58.1) In thus starting the Presbyteries 
wholly or overwhelmingly foreign in membership, 
the problem of devolution was greatly increased. 
For as a result not only was there the "Mission" 
organization whose powers and responsibilities must 
eventually be given over to the Indian Church, 
but the very Church organization itself in its higher 
courts had to devolve from overwhelming American 
membership and control to Indian membership and 
self-government. 

It may be said that this was the only course pos- 
sible if a Church in India was ever to get started, 
for when finally the question of another procedure 
came before the General Assembly it ruled: 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 149 

"It is the judgment of the Assembly, without ex- 
pressing any opinion as to whether there should be a 
constitutional provision to meet extraordinary cases in 
the foreign field, that, under the existing law of the 
Church, Presbyteries only are competent to ordain 
ministers." (48.36) 

According to Church law, then, the only way to 
be able to ordain Indians would be to start out with 
the formation of a Presbytery of foreigners.* The 
formation of such Presbyteries was thus natural 
from the technical standpoint. But if the great 
principles of Church formation that swayed Rufus 
Anderson and the Amoy missionaries fifteen years 
later had been dominant during 1837-42, when the 
first three Presbyteries were formed in India, the 
General Assembly could have been memorialized to 
make a "constitutional provision to meet extraor- 
dinary cases on the foreign field." 

A Synod Established. Having established these 
largely foreign Presbyteries, there was then an 
eagerness to link these together in a Synod — the 
next higher body according to the system with which 
they had been familiar in America. Permission 
for this was secured as early as 1841 (48.39), but 
the real organization came four years later. How 
prepared the actual Indian leadership was for this 
larger organization may be judged from the fact 
that at the first meeting of the Synod in 1845 there 
was present only one Indian minister and no In- 



*The General Assembly in one instance met the problem of 
providing for ordination where there was no Presbytery in the 
mission field by authorizing the Board of Foreign Missions to pay 
the traveling expenses of a candidate for ordination all the way 
from Mexico to New York. (48) 



150 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

dian elder ; at the second meeting in 1848 there were 
no Indian ministers and two Indian elders; and at 
the third meeting so long as twenty years after its 
start (i. e., 1865) there were nevertheless only one 
Indian minister and three Indian elders in attend- 
ance. (76.1) 

Later this Synod was made to include the 
churches in connection with the Presbyterian 
Kolhapur Mission. This would be from the stand- 
point of actual distance like putting New York 
and Chicago in the same Synod in America; but 
relatively from the standpoint of what the Indian 
churches could afford to put into the expenses of 
delegates, it was immensely further. How far this 
Synod really grew out of the needs of the little, 
infant Church, and how far it was an importation 
from the West may be judged from the comment 
thereon by Secretary Gillespie in his report on his 
visit to the Indian Missions in 1891. Speaking of 
the share of this Kolhapur Presbytery in the work 
of this Synod he says : 

"Only now and then, because of the distance and 
expense, does a missionary find it possible to attend, 
and when one is present he is virtually shut out from 
intelligent participation in the business because he is 
not familiar with Urdu, the language in which all 
business is conducted. The difficulty is still greater 
in the case of ruling elders, who, from lack of knowl- 
edge of English, are cut off even from fellowship with 
the other members of the Synod." (59.1) 

The Establishment of a General Assembly. 

The next step in the establishment of an ecclesias- 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 151 

tically independent Church by the intra micros 
method, was the organization of the highest court 
— the General Assembly — in India, which was com- 
pleted in 1904, in co-operation with four other 
Churches of Presbyterian polity. (130.3) 

Here again the demand for the larger organi- 
zation was not from the Indian section of the 
Church. The seven Councils of the Presbyterian 
Alliance (1875-1904) which brought about the 
formation of the Presbyterian Church in India were 
composed predominantly of foreigners. (62) Many 
missionaries felt the whole movement was being 
forced on the Indian Church. One wrote: "I do 
not know of one Indian in our Mission who has 
the remotest enthusiasm for it." {77-2) On the 
other hand while all would doubtless acknowledge 
that the majority of Indians were absolutely indif- 
ferent to the movement for union (77.3) many 
would say this was no reason for leaving them 
in this lamentable condition ; furthermore that it 
was only right that missionaries, who had intro- 
duced sectarianism into India, should take the lead 
in overcoming it. 

However, the difficulties mentioned in connection 
with the Synod were accentuated in connection with 
the General Assembly which represented a still 
larger area. Since English is the only language 
medium possible for such diverse groups as are 
thus brought together the number who make suitable 
commissioners is limited. Moreover, the distances 
are so great, and the ability of the Indian Church 
to give is so small that at the last Assembly the 
delegates' traveling expenses alone amounted to 3 



152 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

per cent of the total amount contributed by the 
Church for all purposes. (64.1)* 

The levy for the Assembly expenses came as a 
heavy burden on the simple village congregations 
too unlettered to have any adequate interest in such 
a national organization. Extension of group con- 
sciousness is a matter of slow growth and the 
masses could not feel any real group responsibility 
for the "Presbyterian Church in India." In ex- 
treme cases pastors were tempted to keep down 
their roll of communicants so as to escape the heavy 
per capita levy, which would make a too dispropor- 
tionate drain on the church budget that could not 
even support the pastor. (77.4) To meet this 
acknowledged difficulty various solutions have been 
proposed in the General Assembly: the meeting 
every three years instead of every year; the adop- 
tion of a sliding scale, etc. (64.2), but the impres- 
sion remains that the machine is bigger than the 
life. Nor with the mass movements on in many 
parts of the Church is the ability to finance this 
largest type of organization likely soon to be bet- 
tered; the total enrollment between 1908-1913 in- 
creased six times as fast as the Church's total 
expenditure. (64.3) 

But the gift to India of an ecclesiastically in- 
dependent Church by the intra maros method did 
not involve simply difficulties of language and 
finance. Its theology and procedure were safe- 
guarded by a "Confessions, Constitution and Canons 
of the Presbyterian Church in India" running into 

*In the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America 
the similar proportion is iy 2 tenths of one per cent. (48.38) 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 153 

a twenty-nine paged pamphlet. (63) This naturally 
embodied the best wisdom and experience of Pres- 
byterian systems of the West upon which the unit- 
ing parent Churches could agree. But any forc'gn 
made Constitution is apt to be too inflexible for 
needs growing out of the soil. For example, one 
Presbytery, struggling earnestly against the ever- 
present difficulties of poverty amongst the people 
and lack of higher education amongst the workers, 
attempted to provide the much needed pastoral 
care by a plan which Presbyterians in the West 
had never tried. It was to give a limited ordina- 
tion to certain men who had received calls from 
regularly organized churches, and who would be 
called Pastor-elders. These men were to be author- 
ized to perform marriage ceremonies and administer 
baptism, but only in their own congregations and 
so long as Presbytery authorized them to retain the 
position of Pastor-elder. (77.5) But this was un- 
precedented, so the Assembly annulled the action 
of the Presbytery. 77.6)* 

The Relation of the Missionary to the Church. 

In inquiring how far the local church has ecclesias- 
tical independence it may be noted that the Consti- 
tution of the Presbyterian Church in India provides 
that: 

"Until a church is self-supporting there shall be, 
if desired by the Mission or Presbytery which con- 

*The same difficulty was experienced in the Baptist Telegu dis- 
trict. Their more flexible system allowed a custom to grow up 
of giving to a man called to serve a certain church authority to 
perform the ordinances in that particular church. This plan is 
said to be working well in practice, as it secures all the advantages 
of the ordained minister with a minimum of the disadvantages. 
(120.5) 



154 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

tributes to its support, a representative (minister or 
elder) of that contributing body on the session and 
the financial board." (63.1) 

Since 75 per cent of the fully organized churches 
in the Church at large (and 85 per cent of those 
connected with the Missions of the Presbyterian 
Church in U. S. A.) are not self-supporting, this 
means that self-government cannot be claimed by 
any great percentage. (64.4) 

Very adequate provision is made for mission- 
aries intra muros by the Constitution. As to rep- 
resentation in Synods: 

"Each Presbytery shall appoint one minister and 
one elder for every two churches or fraction thereof 
within its bounds, and one missionary for every two 
missionaries or fraction of two who are not pastors 
of churches. . . ." As to the General Assembly, 
"Each Presbytery shall appoint one minister and one 
elder for every five churches or fraction thereof within 
its bounds and one missionary for every five ordained 
missionaries (not otherwise reckoned) or fraction of 
five. . . ." (63.2) 

Let us see how they have used this privilege. 
Of the seven Moderators of the General Assembly 
thus far four have been foreigners. In the last 
three Assemblies out of twenty-eight important 
standing Committees the Conveners of twenty-three 
were non-Indian. In the last Assembly there was 
distinct improvement in this regard, there being 
three Indian Conveners of Standing Committees 
out of nine. And yet the number of foreign mem- 
bers on these nine Committees was greater than the 
number of Indians. (64.6) 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 155 

It is interesting to read the following resolution 
brought in by a Committee on Union, itself having 
a missionary Convener, with five missionary mem- 
bers and only two Indians : 

"Recognizing also that our aim is to secure a 
united indigenous Church of Indian Christians rather 
than one of foreign missionaries, with its peculiar west- 
ern characteristics, we feel it to be of supreme im- 
portance that the Indian brethren, as far as possible, 
should be responsible for its development, that the 
future Church may grow in harmony with oriental 
rather than occidental ideas: 

"Resolved, That a Union Committee, consisting of 
twenty Indian members, as far as possible representing 
all the Presbyteries of the Church, with a missionary 
Convener and Vice Convener, be appointed by this 
Assembly." (64.5) 

This resolution was adopted by the Assembly. 
Passing by the fact that with a missionary Convener 
a** J Vice Convener and the Indian members 
scattered one in each of the twenty Presbyteries 
the Indians could be nothing more than lay figures, 
it is interesting to note that the Assembly that 
passed this resolution appointed seven Standing 
Committees, six of the Conveners of which were 
missionaries, with thirty-two missionaries as 
against fifteen Indian members.* 

Other examples of the dominance of the foreign 
element can easily be found by perusing the Re- 
ports of the seven Assemblies already held, but 
enough has been said here to prevent surprise that 

*On the other hand it must be acknowledged that a year later 
the Indian members of the Union Committee asked that the 
European element be strengthened, and this was done. (113.8) 



156 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

up to the present time little enthusiasm on the part 
of Indians has been developed for the "Presby- 
terian Church in India." 

Indian Opinion as to the Place of the Mission- 
ary. Of course it may be said that the Constitu- 
tion of the Church gives no special favor to any 
man or body of men ; or that this preponderating 
influence of foreigners in the councils of the 
Church is due to transitory causes. But let us see 
how this method of developing an independent 
Church looks to wise and intelligent Indians. The 
first Indian Moderator — a man sufficiently dis- 
tinguished to be given an honorary degree in 1910 
by Edinburgh University — wrote in 1905 : 

"I am strongly in favor of the proposal [that mis- 
sionaries should not join the new Church, but should 
help and influence it from without], as its adoption 
is sure to develop the new Church. What is our 
object? If I mistake not, it is to start a strong 
national Presbyterian Church in India, and this could 
be only accomplished by allowing the Indians to do 
their own work, without being hampered by the pres- 
ence of men of superior intelligence, and many of 
whom stand toward Indian members in the relation 
of master and servant. They may at first work awk- 
wardly and unsatisfactorily, but will soon overcome 
all difficulties, every fall bringing new experience and 
new strength." (73.1) 

After a lapse of ten years he writes again in a 
private letter: 

"Its constitution and canons ought to be revised 
so as to secure a larger representation of Indian mem- 
bers and a larger election of Indian Moderators." 
(73.2) 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 157 

The fact is that there is a Church in India ec- 
clesiastically independent from the parent Churches 
who gave it birth, but how much more than in 
a geographical sense this Church is Indian would 
be a difficult question to decide. 

The Present Trend. Presbyterian missionaries 
themselves, as we saw in Chapter II, are more and 
more doubting the wisdom of continuing the 
present policy. They see that there is an inconsis- 
tency in their having a very large share* in the 
councils of the Indian Church, while in general 
Indians are rigidly excluded from membership in 
the Missions. Furthermore many have noted the 
marked success in creating a real church spirit 
secured by a certain missionary in the Pan jab dur- 
ing the past few years who resolutely held himself 
to help and inspire ab extra. This instance has 
been a factor in causing more than one leader to 
advocate the withdrawal of missionaries from Pres- 
byteries as the policy for the future. (72) 

A most hopeful sign of change in attitude is 
found in the Conference of Secretary Stanley 
White with the Western India Mission of the 
Presbyterian Church. This Conference resolved 
that: 

"Missionaries should, as far as possible, insist on the 
Indian brethren taking responsibility, especially in 
church, Session, Presbytery, Synod and General As- 
sembly, and should never accept for themselves posi- 
tions of honour and leadership when it is possible for 
the native brethren to take the places." (68.1) 

*Last year in the five Presbyteries with which the Presbyterian 
Missions are associated, there were 47 ordained foreigners vs. 61 
ordained Indians. The inclusion of Indian elders and licentiates 
would make the foreign ratio considerably less. (64.4) 



158 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

4. The Reformed Church in America. 

In Chapter I we saw that in 1863 the victory for 
the ideal of independent national Churches was 
practically won in the Reformed Church. In Chap- 
ter II we saw that its missionaries wanted to de- 
velop the Indian Church from within. Hence 
since it was not thought best to sever their home 
ecclesiastical connection, they became assessors in 
the Indian classis. 

Classis Started Predominantly Missionary. 
Like the Presbyterians the Arcot Missionaries began 
by establishing a classis predominantly European, 
so that they also have had the double problem of 
educating Indians not only to take over the 
responsibilities of the Mission but to make their 
own a Church organization already established and 
managed of necessity at the start by foreigners. 
The number of Indians naturally increased until 
about twenty-five years ago the Indian members 
of the classis could have (had they so desired) ob- 
tained a three-fourths majority. Nevertheless the 
custom of having every alternate Moderator a 
missionary was continued. (119.2) 

It was in the first year of the Arcot Mission that 
the first classis was formed, consisting of four 
foreigners, no Indian pastor, and three Indian 
elders. (117.1) The motive was definitely the 
development of the Indian Church by helping it 
from within, and as such was formulated by the 
Mission in 1855. It is as follows : 

"Native pastors will be united with us in a classis. 
We deem this to be of vital importance as an admirable 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 159 

means of cultivating and strengthening the native 
pastor's character. Bringing them to our side, and 
giving them a vote with us, will inure them to bear 
responsibilities, will lead them to think and act as 
Christian ministers, and will tend to eradicate the 
servility of the Hindu mind. We shall thus sustain 
the relation of brethren to them, and be able to uphold 
them in times of weakness, and teach them to tread 
the difficult path before them with an equable and 
cheerful step." (7.1 1 ) 

This was in accord with the policy of the home 
authorities, for in the Constitution of the Board of 
Foreign Missions adopted at their separation from 
the American Board we find: 

"It shall be the steady aim of the Board of Foreign 
Missions to secure as early as may be wise the organ- 
ization by the Missionaries of churches, classes, and 
other Church Courts, according to the order of the 
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church." (81. 1) 

Rufus Anderson, who in the memorable Depu- 
tation to India visited the Arcot Mission while it 
was still connected with the American Board, and 
was very doubtful about the wisdom of this policy, 
commented thus in 1855 upon it: 

"We shall have the advantage, dear brethren, of 
seeing in your mission how the rules and discipline 
devised for churches in their most advanced state of 
civilization and progress will answer for such as are 
babes in Christ, beyond all power of conception in 
those who are unaided by the painful experience of 
these heathen lands. After proving all lawful things, 
may we be enabled to hold fast that which is found 
to be good." (7.12) 



160 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

Unfortunately the problem is so complex that 
sixty years of experience give no unanimity of 
judgment on the problem Dr. Anderson has thus 
stated. 

The South India United Church. We need not 
trace the decades in detail. The classis organized 
in 1854 under predominant foreign control was 
enlarged by the increasing Mission staff and by 
more and more Indians, as men were ordained and 
churches formed. With foreign initiative and lead- 
ership the Arcot classis in 1901 entered into the 
first organic union in India, forming the United 
Church of South India with the Scotch Presby- 
terians. 

The Relation of Missionaries to it. The re- 
lation of missionaries to the local church and to 
the higher court is thus given in the "Scheme of 
Organic Union'' as adopted: 

"Until a church is self-supporting there shall be on 
the session and the board of deacons a representative 
of the Mission which contributes to its support. Note: 
While the representative of the Mission shall, on the 
attainment of self-support by the church, cease to be 
an ex-officio member of these courts, he may be elected 
an elder by the congregation, or may be united by the 
session to attend its meetings or that of the board of 
deacons. . . . 

"The Presbytery is composed of all the ministers and 
one elder from each session within a defined district. 
In view of the peculiar relation that missionaries sus- 
tain to both the home and the native Churches they 
shall, while remaining connected with the home Church 
and subject to its jurisdiction alone, act as assessors 
in the Indian Presbyteries and Synod." (87.1) 

No special provision was made for missionaries 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 161 

to be in the highest court, in this respect differing 
from the careful provision made by the Presby- 
terian Church in India. In other words, mission- 
aries entered Synod not as missionaries, but only 
as ordinary representatives elected by the Presby- 
teries. (87.2) 

It was recognized in 1903 that the expenses of 
missionary attendance at Presbytery and Synod 
should not be a burden on the Church, and it was 
resolved that such expense "be a matter of ar- 
rangement between the Missions and the assessors." 
( 1 27.1) The tendency in the intra micros system 
of letting experienced capable Westerners shoulder 
responsibilities rather than place these educative 
burdens upon the Indian, is seen in the fact that 
during the life of this particular organization (1901- 
1905) the five Moderators and almost all Con- 
veners were missionaries. (127) In the last Synod 
(1905) missionaries made up over one- fourth of 
the total number of Commissioners. (127.2) The 
intricate wav in which the new "independertt" 
church was financially linked up to the Mission 
is indicated by the fact that in a set of fifteen rules 
adopted by the Synod in 1902 the Mission had to 
be mentioned in nine of them. (27.3) 

Still Further Union. In 1905 this union of 
South India Presbyterians entered the "Presby- 
terian Church in India," the nature of whose ec- 
clesiastical independence was treated in the last 
chapter. In 1908 they withdrew from the "Pres- 
byterian Church in India," to form the South India 
United Church, the first organic union in India 
amongst bodies of different polity — which was 



162 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

described under the section of this chapter on the 
American Board. 



5. The Methodist Episcopal Church. 

We saw in Chapter I that while the Methodists 
have been very active to secure self-support and 
self-propagation on the part of the Indian Church, 
they have not emphasized self-government as an 
end in itself. The impression left on one by a 
perusal of their literature is that they are dominated 
by the desire for efficiency in evangelism; that 
since the West financially simply cannot face the 
task, self-support is necessary; and since no rea- 
sonable increase of missionaries would meet the 
need, Indians must take up the work of spreading 
the Gospel to their own people. Indians in some 
cases are more efficient and in all cases are 
cheaper than foreign missionaries, therefore work 
and authority should be placed in their hands. 
In other words, the controlling thought seems to be 
efficiency in evangelism rather than any theoretical 
obligation to raise up an indigenous, independent, 
virile Church which shall itself assume primal 
responsibility for the conversion of its people. 

We saw in Chapter II that from the first they 
have worked from within the Church, rather than 
without it in a Mission. We have now to see how 
devolution has taken place under these conditions. 

Race and the Bishopric. It is the frequently 
recorded policy of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
that there should be no discrimination in the choice 
of a Bishop because of race or colour. (95.5) The 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 163 

General Conference of 1892 passed the following 
resolution : "That since all ministers and members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church of every kindred 
tribe and tongue are equally entitled to all its rights 
and privileges, the race or nationality of Bishops is 
not a proper subject for legislation, but must be 
decided by the free votes of those invested with 
the responsibility of electing Bishops. " (95.6) It 
is with some satisfaction that the Methodists claim 
to have furnished the first Christian Bishop ever 
elevated to this office in Southern or Eastern Asia 
(i. e., in Japan). (95.7) 

The expenses connected with the Bishops of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church are procured in what 
is called the "Episcopal Fund." An assessment is 
made on each church of 1% P er cent of the pas- 
tor's salary, including house rent. The Treasurer's 
report for 19 13 shows that the total assessment for 
India (including Burma) was $336, of which about 
a third was paid, four Conferences giving nothing. 
(100) 

District Superintendent. Next in importance 
and dignity to the office of Bishop is that of Pre- 
siding Elder or District Superintendent. This office 
is far more important in India than in America. 
For on the mission field the District Superintendent 
is obliged, not only to conduct Quarterly and Dis- 
trict Conferences, but to raise up, train and super- 
vise all the force of workers, and frequently to 
carry the whole burden of their support as well as 
the financial support of the institutions in his Dis- 
trict ; to plan, put in operation, and maintain move- 
ments for advance, for increased efficiency and self- 



164 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

support ; to prepare all reports and statistics for his 
District; and to conduct all the local and foreign 
correspondence involved in such a varied work. 
Furthermore, on the foreign field, the District Su- 
perintendent has to decide almost every detail con- 
nected with the multitudinous problems of the work 
of each charge. Often with no precedent as a 
guide, he must attend to duties which include not 
only the evangelistic efforts but the supervision of 
the educational, industrial and other institutions in 
his District and in many cases, the construction of 
the buildings. (101.4) 

To this important office Indian ministers are 
eligible, and from the last report (i. e., 1913) it 
may be seen that there are four Indian Presiding 
Elders out of about forty-two. Three of these 
four are in the oldest Conference. About fifteen 
per cent of the total Christian membership are under 
Indian District Superintendents. (101.3) The 
policy of putting Indians in charge of districts as 
soon as men of the proper qualifications were 
found was begun before 1880 and since then has 
been somewhat extended ; but as we have seen only 
about ten per cent of the Presiding Elders are In- 
dians. 

After more than twelve years of experience 
Bishop Thoburn could say: 

"Although here, as in other particulars, we have 
been obliged to record some failures and mistakes, yet 
on the whole the experiment has been more than satis- 
factory. It has to a large extent inspired our preachers 
and people with a new sense of their personal respon- 
sibility, and it has taught our missionaries generally 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 165 

to recognize the fact that if the millions of India are 
to be converted to God, scores and hundreds of Chris- 
tian preachers taken from the common ranks must be 
promoted to positions of responsibility and trust. In 
adopting this policy thus far we have undoubtedly taken 
an important step toward a wider sphere of labor, and 
a very much larger measure of success than we have 
before known." (101.5) 

Circuits in Charge of Indians. When we come 
to the next smaller division, we find the Circuits 
are overwhelmingly under the charge of Indians. 
There is generally not more than one missionary 
for evangelistic work to each District in which there 
will be from eight to fifteen Circuits. We are not 
surprised then to find that while in 1864 there were 
fifteen circuits in the oldest Conference, all with 
one exception in the hands of missionaries, there 
are now one hundred and six circuits, of which 
ninety-six are in Indian hands. (102.1) 

The Pastorate. Methodists have not hesitated 
to ordain humble men who know the way and can 
point others to it. It appears that they have been 
more ready to ordain men to the ministry than have 
other Missions. With reference to this course 
Bishop Thoburn said in his Bishop's address at the 
Central Conference for 1900: 

"In some cases we have not been sufficiently guarded 
in our course, and both in the admission of candidates 
to baptism and the ordination of preachers, we have 
no doubt over and over again made some serious mis- 
takes. It is better, however, a thousand times that 
we should have to frankly admit and record such mis- 
takes than that we should through long years wait in 
comparative idleness for the appearance of better can- 
didates who are never likely to come." (101.6) 



166 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

There came a time, however, when it was seen 
that the prosperity and power of the Church de- 
pended upon their having an efficient ministry, and 
that the Indian Church would take its shape and 
character from its indigenous leaders. We find, 
therefore, in three successive Central Conferences 
the resolution "that this Conference earnestly ex- 
horts all Presiding Elders to use the utmost caution 
in bringing forward candidates for the ministry; 
and that we advise the Annual Conferences of 
our Church in this country to admit to Conference 
membership only men of tried capacity and char- 
acter/' (101.7) 

The Granting of an Annual Conference to India. 
When the work of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church first started in India, the Mission finances 
and all matters of an administrative character were 
conducted from New York, while ecclesiastically 
the position of the missionaries was one for which 
the Book of Discipline made no provision. Very 
soon the need was felt for regular church organi- 
zation on the field (104.2), since if a minister was 
to be tried, or a candidate admitted to the ministry, 
this had to be done through some Annual Con- 
ference in America. It was plain that if a vigorous, 
growing mission was to exist, there must be ade- 
quate local provision for meeting exigencies as 
they should arise. 

The request of the missionaries in 1864 for full 
Annual Conference organization was only partially 
granted, since they were not given the privilege of 
sending delegates to the General Conference in 
America, nor of voting on constitutional changes 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 167 

purposed in the Discipline. Furthermore their 
Bishop had veto power over their action. (95.9) 
The missionaries were very restive under these 
restrictions, and at the next meeting of the General 
Conference in America in 1868 urged their claim 
again. 

The granting of the powers of an Annual Confer- 
ence to India was a big step for the General Con- 
ference to contemplate. This would clothe each 
missionary and each Indian admitted to their Con- 
ference with the same rights and privileges as had 
any minister in the United States. A great principle 
was here at stake — one that would affect the work 
of the Church in other lands. Were the results 
of mission efforts to be incorporated into an ex- 
tension of the Methodist Episcopal Church or not? 
Furthermore it was realized that the granting of 
full Annual Conference organization would open 
the way for Indian representation in the General 
Conference in America. The possible item of ex- 
pense in sending delegates from India to America 
weighed heavily in the discussion. (96.4) More 
than one of the speakers in the debate, however, 
felt that such representation was desirable. One 
man speaking in favour of granting this first for- 
eign Annual Conference said: 

"And when they are represented, let one of those 
representatives be a native preacher — Joel or Zahur- 
ul-Haqq — and one of these men will be an attraction 
in the General Conference. . . . Let them come here 
and they will add weight, influence and character to 
the General Conference. The item of expense can be 
met." (96.5) 



168 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

With some misgivings regular Annual Con- 
ference organization was extended in 1868 to India 
and the first delegate from a foreign land was ad- 
mitted to the General Conference. (95.11) For a 
few years it was felt by those in authority that the 
operations of the Board of Foreign Missions in 
New York were somewhat hampered by this crea- 
tion of ecclesiastical bodies with all the powers 
of Annual Conferences, in the various mission 
fields. But it was recognized that the advantages 
far outweighed the disadvantages. 

The Admission of Indians to Annual Confer- 
ences. A second significant step had been taken 
by the missionaries in North India the year before 
full Annual Conference organization had been 
granted, i. e., in 1867. (102.2) Up to this time 
there were no Indians in the Conference as organ- 
ized in 1864; in other words there was no effort 
to hold off the organization of the Church until the 
converts felt the need of organization from their 
own standpoint. But in 1867 the policy was adopted 
of admitting Indian preachers without any limita- 
tion upon these rights or privileges to full mem- 
bership in the Annual Conference. It was recog- 
nized that the time must soon come when the mis- 
sionary would be in a distinct minority. Hence 
this was considered a hazardous experiment by 
some. But Bishop Thoburn bears witness to the 
fact that "the unhesitating confidence which was 
reposed by the foreigner in his Indian brother has 
never in the slightest degree been abused." (101.8) 
In the oldest Conference the missionaries consti- 
tuted less than one-fourth of those in full connec- 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 169 

tion in 1913 (102.3), so that if they were unre- 
strained by financial considerations, and if they so 
wished, the Indians could control legislation and 
elections. As it is they have equal voting powers 
on the floor of the Conference, whether Annual, 
District or Quarterly, with foreign missionaries. 

Indians in the Central Conference. The su- 
preme legislative body for Southern Asia is the 
Central Conference, which meets every four years. 
It deals with many interests which would naturally 
come before the General Conference in America 
if it were near enough adequately to comprehend 
and handle problems that arise in India and 
Malaysia. In the first Central Conference there 
were twenty-one Indians out of fifty-one delegates. 
( 1 10.2) In the last Central Conference (1912) 
Indians composed about one-fourth of the 104 
delegates. Of the ten Standing Committees all the 
chairmen were missionaries and all but one of the 
Secretaries were missionaries. Of the 160 on the 
Committees only 22 were Indian. (101.11) No 
adequate financial arrangement has been made for 
the expenses of delegates. Since each is left to 
meet his own charges it makes it very difficult for 
Indians to share in the deliberations of the Con- 
ference which covers districts as widely separated 
as Karachi and Manilla. (102.6) 

In General Conference. To the General Con- 
ference in America two Indians and four Anglo- 
Indians out of a total of twelve delegates were 
sent in 1908, and five Indians out of fourteeen 
delegates in 1912. (95.12) The General Confer- 
ence expenses are estimated by a Committee of the 



170 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

General Conference and an equitable proportion is 
assigned to the various districts of India just as 
of America. The total contributions to this fund 
for the quadrennium preceding 1912 amounted to 
$250 from all of Southern Asia. 

The Control of Foreign Funds. The question 
will be asked: If Indians and missionaries are to- 
gether in one ecclesiastical, executive, legislative 
body, and if Indians are in a large majority, how is 
the expenditure of foreign funds safeguarded? 
This is done by having in each Mission a Finance 
Committee which is appointed by the Board of 
Foreign Missions in New York. Nominations for 
this office are made by the Missions for confirma- 
tion by the Board. Very extensive power is placed 
in the hands of these Committees. They control the 
expenditure of all money given by the Board in 
virtue of the formal approval by the Board of them 
as their recognized agents. By virtue of their office 
and election they control all money raised on the 
field that comes up to the Annual Conference. 
Besides this it is their duty to prepare estimates 
for each and every object for which appropriations 
are needed, to arrange for self-support, to attend 
to real estate, to regulate the salaries of preachers 
and workers employed in the field, etc. It will be 
seen thus that the Finance Committee is one of 
the most important bodies connected with any Mis- 
sion. 

These Committees are composed of the Dis- 
trict Superintendents, ex officio, and six elected 
members. No specifications are made as to race, 
but as a matter of fact missionaries are always in 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 171 

the majority. Indians who may be District Super- 
intendents are ex officio members of the Finance 
Committee. For example, turning again to the 
most advanced Conference, three out of eight Dis- 
trict Superintendents in 19 13 were Indian; three 
out of six elected members were Indian; making 
six Indians on the Finance Committee out of a 
total membership of fourteen. In the next oldest 
Conference (i. e., South India) two out of twelve 
members of the Finance Committee in 1913 were 
Indians. (102.5) 

It will be noticed that although Indians are a 
majority in the Annual Conferences yet they are 
never a majority on the Committees which expend 
the funds — even those raised on the field. It will 
also be noticed in contrast with the Arcot and 
Madura Mission plans of devolution which will 
be described in Chapter VI, that there is no auto- 
matic provision for Indians to arrive at a majority 
in these Committees. Presumably the Board of 
Foreign Missions will suitably increase the In- 
dian representation as the Church grows in power 
to give and to control. But no standard in this 
regard has been announced toward which the 
Church may work. Furthermore the Board's Man- 
ual distinctly states that any redistribution on their 
part of funds as granted by the General Mission- 
ary Committee must be with the concurrence of 
the Presiding Bishop and subject to the Board of 
Managers in New York whose instructions must 
be followed in all cases. (98.2) 

We are now in a position to see that in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church every position theoret- 



172 ECCLESIASTICAL DEVOLUTION 

ically is open to any Indian who may be capable of 
filling it. This policy has no doubt helped to create 
good relations between Indians and foreigners, but 
the extent of this good feeling will more and more 
depend upon the amount of transfer of authority 
that is made. The large powers held by the Ameri- 
can Bishops and the veto held by the Board in New 
York over all Annual Conference expenditures will 
not permanently be satisfactory. As to the possi- 
bility of further transfer of authority Bishop J. E. 
Robinson said in 1910: 

"The day is distant when the authority now wielded 
by the foreign missionaries — shared to a considerable ex- 
tent by the Indians — can be transferred entirely to the 
latter. The fact that so much foreign money is needed 
for the work throughout the churches, and is likely 
to be needed for some time, will stand in the way 
of the foreign Mission relinquishing whatever au- 
thority it may possess through its control of the purse. 
But the large measure of autonomy enjoyed by the 
local churches reduces the pressure of whatever au- 
thority the foreign Mission may exercise to a minimum. 
The relation of the local Indian churches to the foreign 
missionary element is of such a character that when 
the time comes for the complete elimination of the 
latter the transition can be effected with very little 
difficulty." (120.8) 

Adaptation to Indian Needs. Remembering that 
the same Book of Discipline serves the whole 
Church, extended as it has been to many mission 
fields, it is interesting to see what flexibility there 
has been to meet needs arising in India. One of 
the most conspicuous contributions of India to the 
discipline of the Church has been the District Con- 



IDEAL AND METHOD REALIZED 173 

ference as a new unit. It was found that the rank 
and file of Indian helpers were not ready for the 
responsibilities of the Annual Conferences, so dis- 
trict associations were formed. Upon these models 
District Conferences were formed and introduced 
into the Book of Discipline for the whole Church. 
In India, where the need gave rise to these Con- 
ferences, they often surpass the Annual Confer- 
ences in importance and practical results. 

The Central Conference for Southern Asia also 
was a new thing in Methodist polity. Permission 
for this, which in many ways is a General Con- 
ference for that part of the world, was granted in 
1884. (95.13) The "Districting of Bishops'' (95.14) 
and several other minor adaptations might also be 
mentioned. (95.15) 



PART TWO 

ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 



IV 



THE UTILIZATION OR DISSOLUTION OF 
THE "MISSION" 

IN Chapter II we saw how the different 
Societies solved the educational problem: 
Granted that it is wished to develop a self- 
governing indigenous ecclesiastical body, what is the 
best way to do it ; by working from within or from 
without? Now there is another problem quite dis- 
tinct from this, and yet one that has often been 
very closely associated with it. Missionaries sent 
out from America have a complicated work to 
perform (evangelistic, educational, medical, etc.) 
and the expenditure of large sums of money is 
involved. The demands of efficiency in immediate 
administration as well as the education of the In- 
dian Church must be considered. As a result three 
problems arise: 

1. Should the administrative side of the mis- 
sionary enterprise be carried on from within or 
from without the Indian Church? Should there 
be formal organizations of missionaries called "Mis- 
sions," or should all functions of foreign Societies 
find expression in the indigenous Churches ? In the 
problem as thus stated the Church is centric. 

2. On the other hand instead of the Mission 
disappearing in the Church, should the Church 

177 



178 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

come to the Mission? That is, should Indian 
leaders be given the full status of missionaries, and 
function for the evangelization of their land in and 
through a foreign organization? This, it will be 
seen, is the other extreme, where the Mission is 
centric. 

3. Or if neither of these extremes is taken how 
may both Mission and Church retain their separate 
identity with clear-cut distinction of function and 
yet have the devolution of powers and responsi- 
bilities proceed so as to instill the greatest stalwart- 
ness and independence into the Native Church? 
By what adjustments may the Mission continue 
alongside of the independent developing Church 
until such a time as it is no longer needed? In 
the question as last stated is to be found one of the 
fundamental problems for mission administration. 
A correct solution if accepted as decisive would 
go far toward allaying that friction between rep- 
resentatives of native and foreign organizations 
which characterize so many mission fields. 

These three questions will be taken up in succes- 
sive chapters. 

We will best appreciate the significance of the 
problem as first stated if we look at the history of 
the Missions of the Presbyterian Church in which 
the question has been under discussion for over 
forty years. 

1. The Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. 

The Development of Thought at the Home 
Base. The first "Manual" for the use of mission- 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 179 

aries issued by the Board of Foreign Missions and 
now known to exist (i. e., of 1862) contains no 
mention of the Mission. Evidently the problem as 
to the advisability of having "Missions" had not 
arisen. Away back in 1836 the first Presbytery 
had been formed followed by two more in 1841. 
Of these organizations the missionaries were full 
members along with such Indian pastors and elders 
as the development of the Church made possible. 
Along with these organizations, however, from the 
first the missionaries as such had organized them- 
selves into what was called the "Mission" — a non- 
ecclesiastical administrative body for the prosecu- 
tion of the work of the Board of Foreign Missions. 
This was simply the natural thing to do when the 
Presbyterian Board began its foreign work in In- 
dia in 1837. The American Board had been setting 
precedents since 1810. The Baptists began in 1814. 
The polity of neither of these great Churches pro- 
vided a body with the powers and responsibilities 
of a Presbytery. Organizations of missionaries 
therefore into Missions took place. Presbyterians 
simply followed the customs of the time in setting 
up Missions and not utilizing their Presbyteries for 
all the work. 

Solution I — Dissolve the Mission, 1873-89. One 
can see the beginning of a change, however, in one 
of Secretary Lowrie's books issued in 1868: 

"Financial and other business matters are transacted 
with the missionaries, not as Presbyteries, but as 'Mis- 
sions.' Such matters could be readily transacted with 
Committees of Presbyteries, or with the missionaries 
severally, as is the usage of the Board of Domestic 



180 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

Missions and the Presbyteries and ministers aided by 
its funds; this would, it is believed, be a better method 
than the one heretofore in use: that of settling matters 
of business with these different Missions, a kind of 
organization not well suited to the Presbyterian sys- 
tern." (56.3) 

The 1873 edition of the Board's "Manual" em- 
bodied Dr. Lowrie's thought on this new question 
that was developing. The Manual reads : 

"Many things in the practical work conducted by 
missionaries may be best done by common or united 
counsels and labors. The Presbytery forms an ad- 
mirable body for the supervision of such common work, 
particularly as both the foreign and native ministers 
and elders can therein meet on the best terms. If the 
varied common work is conducted under the charge 
of Presbytery it may be expedient for it to appoint 
committees for particular parts of the work, such as 
the schools and employment of teachers, the printing- 
press and its publications, the erection or repair of 
buildings, etc. The Board will regard the ministers 
and elders sent from this country who are members 
of Presbytery as charged with special responsibility for 
the expenditure of the funds remitted by the Treas- 
urer of the Board or received in the field for its use, 
and will require their recommendation of all estimates 
and expenses before giving its approval to them. 

"In cases not practicable under a Presbytery, as 
when there is not sufficient number of ministers to 
form a Presbytery or when the missionaries do not 
prefer this method of conducting their work, the Board 
will follow the plan heretofore ordinarily in use — 
that of constituting the ministers and laymen sent out 
from this country as a 'Mission or committee of the 
whole for the transaction of such business as may 
properly come before them. , " (51.4) 

It is perfectly plain from this that the Board 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 181 

preferred that the work should be done through the 
Presbyteries rather than through the "Mission." 
The emphasis is on the Presbytery, although the 
Manual goes on to outline briefly the organization 
of a Mission. The arguments by which Secretary 
Lowrie attempted to change what had always been 
the practice of the Board's missionaries may be 
summed up as follows: (a) A double system 
(Presbytery and Mission) is unnecessary. The 
purely business, administrative side of the work 
may be done by committees of the Presbytery as is 
done in America, thus securing simplicity of action 
by abolishing the Mission, (b) Organized Missions 
are un-Presbyterian, not being based on a repre- 
sentative principle, and placing the missionaries in 
a status where they "must too often act as quasi 
bishops, not responsible to any Church/' (c) The 
membership of the Mission is too narrow — being 
merely that of foreign laborers, (d) The difficulty 
of financial responsibility for the expenditure of 
foreign funds could be met by the Board's re- 
quiring the separate approval and consent of the 
foreign missionaries wherever the use of foreign 
funds was in question. (574) 

From this, as well as from many other places 
in his writings, (57.5) one can see that Dr. Lowrie 
was adverse to any departure from Presbyterianism 
as an ecclesiastical system of Presbytery, Synod 
and General Assembly ; and that the great problem 
of foreign missions — the development of an inde- 
pendent, efficient, thoroughly self-reliant native 
Church — had not really become a factor in his con- 
sideration of the question. By this last statement 



182 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

it is not meant to imply that if he had had the 
problem of the native Church vividly before him, 
he would not still have come to the same conclusion, 
but simply that as a matter of fact his discussions 
do not make the welfare of the native Church 
centric. 

A Time of Transition, 1889-1904. The "Man- 
ual" directions of 1873, quoted above, continued 
practically without change until 1889, when a very 
definite change in policy was introduced. The 
wording is a brief echo of the 1873 paragraphs, but 
all definite suggestion that the Presbytery might 
absorb the Mission is omitted. This again is fol- 
lowed by a clear definition of the "Mission." And 
it is clear that the Mission as a separate organiza- 
tion from the Presbytery is more and more being 
considered essential. One reason appears implicitly 
in this same edition of the Manual (1889), in a 
provision for women who were actively engaged in 
mission work to vote on what is known as woman's 
work. (51.6) The question now being considered 
had arisen in the '6o's before woman's share in 
missionary work had developed. Her increasing 
activity in the missionary enterprise constituted a 
factor that had to be taken into consideration. 
Devolution of work and authority amongst mis- 
sionaries from men to women consumed some con- 
structive thought. So long as the workers were 
ordained men, or men who could be made Elders, 
it was conceivable that the Mission could lose its 
identity in the Presbytery. But it would have been 
without precedent to introduce women into the 
Presbytery, nor by 1889 did it seem wise to ignore 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 183 

their right to a voice in the management of their 
affairs. If all foreign financed work were managed, 
however, by a non-ecclesiastical Mission, they 
could have a voice in the deliberations. 

Another factor leading to this change was the 
formation of union Presbyteries on the foreign 
field, some of which were noted in a previous 
section. Unless Missions were distinct from 
Presbyteries, a union of the latter would necessitate 
a union of the Missions as well ; this would be im- 
possible, representing as they often did Societies 
in different countries. With Missions distinct the 
Presbyteries could unite and thus go one step 
further toward an indigenous Church, leaving the 
separate distinct Mission behind. 

Furthermore there were in increasing numbers 
those who felt that on its merits and apart from 
the two practical considerations we have just men- 
tioned the absorption of the Mission by the Presby- 
tery would mean seriously to confuse functions that 
should remain different, and that the effects could 
but be harmful to the development of an independent 
Church. It would be like overwhelming the spon- 
taneous life of the child by personelle, resources 
and machinery utterly unsuited to him. 

The edition of the Manual in 1894 reflects this 
new view point still further, by defining very 
definitely the functions of a Mission: 

"The Mission has the general care and supervision 
of all w r ork within its limits. All questions of policy, 
method and expenditure are subject to its judgment 
and all requests requiring the action of the Board 
should be accompanied by the action of the Mission 



184 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

upon them. Tours of exploration or any unusual work 
should be undertaken only with the advice of the 
Mission. 

"The Mission assigns and in general supervises the 
work of the individual missionaries to the end that 
all forms of labor may have the benefit of united 
counsel and may promote the interests of the work as 
a whole. It is proper, of course, that the views of all 
missionaries regarding their location and work should 
have weight with the action of the Mission ; an appeal 
to the Board for final decision can be made." (51.7) 

Solution II — Sharply Distinguishing the Func- 
tions of the Mission 1904-19 14. Counsels which 
were keeping the highest welfare of the native 
Churches centric brought about still further changes 
in the edition of the Manual in 1904. This and each 
of the three succeeding editions omit, as we have 
seen in Chapter II, all specific directions that mis- 
sionaries should identify themselves with the Pres- 
byteries on the field. It furthermore removed all 
suggestion that Presbyteries could do the work of 
the Mission according to Dr. Lowrie's old plan, 
and came out with a clean-cut enunciation of the 
Board's desire for the Presbytery to increase — 
but not by the absorption of the Mission. 

The section which appeared first in 1904 and 
which has been continued ever since in the Manual 
reads : 

"It is the desire of the Board to magnify the Pres- 
bytery, and to have such parts of the work committed 
to its direction and control as the Mission, with the 
approval of the Board, may deem wise from time to 
time, looking to the speedy establishment of a self- 
supporting and self-propagating Native Church." 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 185 

And then still more explicitly is enunciated the 
desirability of making a clear-cut distinction of 
function between the Mission and the native Church. 
This is done by quoting the action of the General 
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1908: 

"That in the judgment of the Assembly the best 
results of Mission work in Brazil and other foreign 
fields will be attained only when right lines of dis- 
tinction are observed between the functions of the 
native Churches and the functions of the foreign Mis- 
sions; the Missions contributing to the establishment 
of the native Churches and looking forward to passing 
on into the regions beyond when their work is done, 
and the native Churches growing up with an indepen- 
dent identity from the beginning, administering their 
own contributions and resources unentangled with any 
responsibility for the administration of the Missions or 
of the funds committed to the Mission. " 

This is the last official statement by the Board 
and the Assembly on the question now before us. 
The native Church is manifestly central; the Pres- 
byteries as embodying native representatives are 
to be magnified; missionaries (by implication from 
what is omitted from previous Manuals) are to 
withdraw from the Presbyteries and thus give 
the native Churches a chance to gain independence 
of thought and initiative ; work is to be turned over 
to the Presbyteries just as rapidly as the Presby- 
teries mature enough to take it; but through it all 
the Mission is to be distinct as long as foreign mis- 
sionaries are needed in the land at all. In short the 
Manuals since 1904 set forth a principle intended to 
secure true Missions and- true native Churches. 

The Development of Thought on the field. So 



186 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

far we have been tracing the development of the 
problem in America as expressed in the official 
actions of the Board of Foreign Missions. Let us 
now turn to India and see how the question worked 
itself out on the field. It was first raised in the 
Panjab Mission in 1872 (the year before it was 
first discussed in the Board's Manual). During 
the twenty-one years between 1872 and 1893 the 
question came up for discussion thirteen times. 
(52.10) 

Shall the Mission Be Dissolved? 1872-1880. We 
will not attempt to go into all the detail of this 
long effort to discover the best solution to this very 
real problem. But it will help us to appreciate the 
general problem of devolution in Mission adminis- 
tration if we pause at the more important stages of 
the discussion. The original statement of the ques- 
tion in 1872 was : 

"Shall we recommend the Board to dissolve the Lud- 
hiana Mission, leaving all business involving the ex- 
penditure of funds to a Financial Committee of each 
Presbytery, and all other business to the several Pres- 
byteries of which the Mission is now composed ?" 

A committee was appointed to correspond with 
the Board on the subject, to draw up a scheme, and 
present it at the next Annual Meeting. (52.10) 

Considerable difficulty and delay, however, was 
experienced in drawing up a practical and acceptable 
measure. By 1877 a P^ an came up for consideration 
the preamble of which shows the reasons urging 
the Mission on to action and which reads as fol- 
lows : 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 187 

"Whereas, We are more and more convinced that the 
responsibility of missionary work not only belongs to 
the Church in its organic capacity, but that its evan- 
gelistic spirit is likely to be fostered and its interests 
in the conversion of the heathen increased in proportion 
to the amount of responsibility which in this respect 
is laid upon it; and, 

"Whereas, The introduction of any practical work 
of this kind into our Presbyteries in addition to the 
dry routine which hitherto has occupied most of the 
time of their sessions is likely to exert a good influence 
upon the native members, and so far as our influence 
extends, to give a missionary impress to the rising 
Church in India — therefore . . . (and then follows 
a plan for the dissolution of the Mission)." (52.2) 

The plan proposed at this time was fully dis- 
cussed, but the Mission failed to agree on it, and a 
new committee was appointed. (52.3) 

This committee reported in 1878 adversely to 
the dissolution of the Mission, giving as their 
reason : 

"The Presbyteries as now constituted, embracing in 
almost every case a number of men, especially elders, 
who cannot be regarded as competent, with the train- 
ing and experience they have to control missionary work 
such as the Mission is now carrying on, ought not to 
have such responsibility laid upon them." (52.4) 

Partial Devolution Resolved Upon, 1880-84. 

But the problem would not remain settled in this 
form. In 1880, after several plans had been pro- 
posed and rejected, a paper containing the follow- 
ing leading features was adopted : 

"The evangelization of the heathen is a spiritual 
work, and therefore belongs properly to the Presby- 



188 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

teries; but since money is required to sustain evangel- 
istic agencies, the work has a secular side also. If the 
Presbyteries are able to raise all the money needed 
for such objects, and so carry on the work without 
reference to any outside help, they are obviously com- 
petent to do so. The spiritual and secular departments 
alike may then be under their arrangement. . . . 
But suppose the Presbyteries should be unable to raise 
money enough to support one or other of these agencies 
or should be unable even to secure suitable agents, then 
the thing would be to look for help somewhere outside 
its own domain. 

"To meet just such emergencies in America the Board 
of Home Missions exists, and when such emergencies 
arise in the Foreign Field (which necessarily can be 
only after Presbyteries have been organized and have 
begun their work) they ought to be met by the Board 
of Foreign Missions. That Board should be asked 
to aid either in money or in men according to the occa- 
sion — sometimes in both. The Board, however, being 
far away, acts through a local committee called the 
Mission, and so it is through the Mission that the 
Presbytery should make its applications for aid. 

"Should aid be granted either in men or money, it is 
obvious that appointments made by the Presbytery 
and depending in any measure on such grants, should 
be made with the sanction of the Mission; and all 
agents supported either wholly or in part by the funds 
of the Board should be held liable to have their work 
inspected by the Mission; and the Mission to require 
periodical reports of their work — either directly or 
through the Presbytery . . ." (52.5) 

This paper furthermore provided that the Mis- 
sion should have the entire control of the work of 
missionary ladies, of Mission day-schools, press, 
orphanage and Christian boarding schools. The 
transfer of missionaries from the bounds of one 
Presbytery to another should also be left to the dis- 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 189 

cretion of the Mission, though subject to the request 
of the Presbyteries. Lastly, as to actual devolution, 
the immediate oversight of the work of native 
preachers, catechists, and colporteurs should be 
made over to Presbytery. 

Thus after eight years of discussion, in which 
more than once a motion had been passed that the 
Mission should be completely dissolved that all its 
functions might pass to the Presbyteries, we have 
in 1880 the conviction that the only work that could 
with propriety be transferred was the supervision of 
"native preachers, catechists and colporteurs." 

This plan went into operation in 1882, but 
developed difficulties. One Presbytery used its new 
powers to elaborate and adopt a graded scheme 
of pay for catechists on a liberal scale. The Mis- 
sion who had to pay the bills rejected the plan of 
the Presbytery "on the ground that the Mission 
does not approve of the principle on which it is 
based." Furthermore, when next year the Presby- 
tery asked the Mission to define the powers of the 
Presbytery "in the matter of control as well as 
oversight," the Mission began to realize that the 
actual supervision of the work of catechists must 
be in the hands of individual missionaries ; and that 
the determination of their pay must be in the hands 
of the Mission. (52.6) 

Again the whole question was taken up de novo 
and again the trend of effort in constructive plans 
was to dissolve the Mission. In connection with 
considering such a radical plan of devolution it 
might be well to note that in 1884 the statistical 
tables show that the number of missionaries was yy 



190 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

per cent of the number of possible Indian Elders 
and ordained men in the Presbyteries of the 
Ludhiana and Furrukhabad Missions. (50.6) 

Dissolution of the Mission Abandoned, 1891- 
19 14. At last a joint meeting of the two Presby- 
terian Missions was held in 1891 at which a care- 
fully devised plan for turning all the work over to 
the Presbyteries was long and earnestly discussed. 
In the end the plan was rejected as a hopeless and 
impracticable measure. The point of view from 
which the decision was made is shown in the re- 
port : "We believe the giving over of all or even a 
great part of the business of the Mission to Pres- 
bytery would injure the Church." (59.2) 

By this time also the Board in America, which 
had since 1873 been favoring the dissolution of 
the Mission, had begun to change its point of view. 
There still remained, however, a few who believed 
the dissolution of the Mission to be the ideal solu- 
tion. To guard against such possible action in one 
of the Missions the Board requested it "to submit 
any plans for transferring the administration of the 
work supported by the Board to the Presbytery 
before actually making proposals." (49.7) Within 
the past three years the old proposal of dissolution 
of the Mission has been urgently pressed by one of 
the oldest and most experienced of the missionaries. 
It is well to see how strong and sympathetic to the 
Indian Church modern arguments for the dissolu- 
tion of the Mission may be : 

"This policy recognizes no West and no East in the 
Church ; it recognizes that there are diversities of gifts, 
but not that the gifts of administration are given only 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 191 

to men from the West ; it confidently trusts the Church, 
represented by the Sessions, Presbyteries, Synods and 
Assembly to lay hands on the right men for service 
whether born in India, Scotland or America; it wins 
the confidence and love of the Church in India, every 
foreign missionary a member of that Church, his stand- 
ing and authority in the hands of his brethren in India, 
whether as elder or minister; it gives the young and 
inexperienced Indian elder and minister the benefit of 
closest fellowship with Christian men of other na- 
tionalities, training him thus in the handling of diffi- 
cult subjects, giving him the benefit of the kind of 
training the young and inexperienced foreign mission- 
ary obtained by becoming a full member of the Mission 
within a year of his arrival in India; it puts the young 
foreign missionary at once in the right environment, 
the Indian Church, rather than 'The Mission/ a 
body of foreigners. It teaches him to feel and say 
in his best moments, 'Your servants for Jesus' sake/ 
. . . We urge the adoption of a policy which will 
bring missionaries more and more into the heart and 
life of the Church in India . . . and entrusting to 
committees, elected on the ground of fitness, irrespective 
of nationality, much of the work now carried on by the 
Mission." (78.2) 

The complete transference of the work of the 
Missions to the Presbyteries, however, meets with 
the approval of but a small minority at the present 
time. The argument for the separate identity of 
the Mission is a long one, and since the object of 
this chapter is to show historically what has been 
done rather than what ought to be done, we will 
simply give an indication of its trend from a private 
letter of one of its strongest exponents : 

"It seems to me that every course of action should 
be avoided which obscures the ideal of a true indige- 



192 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

nous, independent Church, and which hides the scan- 
tiness of that Church's spirit of sacrifice and the weak- 
ness of that Church's spiritual aggressiveness by con- 
fusing it with other activities and by burying it within 
an immense and overwhelming financial subsidy from 
without. Men show themselves capable of adminis- 
tering that which is another's only by proper adminis- 
tration of that which is their own, and I do not fit 
my son for a strong and independent life by making 
him co-equal with me in the administration of that 
which I, and not he, have produced. And transferring 
the figure to Missions, it seems to me fair to say that 
the harmonies and effective administration of the joint 
capital is of less importance than that training of the 
Native Church to produce a capital of its own; to 
stand up on its feet with a clean, vigorous, true life 
and a spirit of wholesome and intense and self-respect- 
ing independence. I believe that a few Sawayamas 
in India would do more to bring about this day than 
could be brought about by any adjustment of Mission 
policy or relationship of organization." (74) 

More or less then for forty years the question as to 
whether there should be a Mission has been before 
the Presbyterian Missions in India. Their contribu- 
tion to the solution of this problem after these 
years of thought and experiment is the conviction 
that Missions must continue as long as missionaries 
are needed, but progressively passing over their 
functions to the Indian Church as it becomes able 
to take them. This very absorption and persistence 
in an attempt that brought only negative results 
has prevented their leadership among missions in 
really practicable and thoroughgoing plans of devo- 
lution. What they have done in the way of devolu- 
tion since giving up the effort of dissolving the 
Mission, will be seen in Chapter VI. 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 193 

2. The Reformed Church in America. 

Consistent Insistence upon a Mission. The 
problem that has absorbed so much of the thought 
of the Presbyterian Board did not trouble the 
Board and Missions of the Reformed Church in 
America. In the Constitution of their Board 
adopted in 1857, we find : 

"When three or more missionaries are located near 
each other, they shall organize themselves for business 
as a Mission, by the choice of a President, a Secretary, 
and Treasurer, which form shall continue (even when 
they may organize a Classis), until they require no 
further aid ; but no native shall take part in the action 
of such Mission." (81.2) 

This direction is virtually repeated in the Board's 
"Manual" for 1909. (82.1) The Arcot Mission 
therefore has preserved itself distinct from the 
Classis. 

3. The American Board. 

Missions Organized. From the beginning of the 
work at Bombay the missionaries of the American 
Board were organized as a self-governing com- 
munity, or Mission. With the enlargement of the 
work a constitution and by-laws were adopted in 
1834. (16.6) Owing to distance of travel and 
difference in work what is now the Marathi Mission 
was divided into two Missions in 1842 and into 
four by 1852. But a centralizing policy brought 
all together again in i860. (4.7) 

Similarly the Madura and Ceylon missionaries 



194 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

of the American Board have been organized into 
Missions and the policy has been consistently fol- 
lowed. 



4. The American Baptist Mission Society. 

The question that in the Presbyterian Missions 
took so many years to solve — viz., the dissolution 
of the Mission in order that its work might be done 
in the Presbytery — could not arise in the Baptist 
polity, for the churches as independent units have 
no central organization to be injured by neglect or 
to be jealous of its powers. There are Baptist 
Associations and Conventions, but their purpose and 
character are far less closely knit than the Presby- 
tery, the Classis, or the Local Unions within the 
bounds of the Marathi, and the Madura Missions. 
And yet in China devolution of mission work to 
a Baptist Convention is taking place and this would 
theoretically be possible in India. (35.3) 

There have been, however, three very interesting 
swings of the pendulum in the Baptist Missions in 
respect to the advisability of organizing mission- 
aries into definite councils. The determining con- 
sideration in each case, however, has been only 
indirectly the welfare of the Indian Church; the 
primal thought in the changes was efficiency in 
administration. 

The Formation of Missions. The first official 
record we have been able to find on the subject 
is in the Regulations adopted by the Board of 
Managers in 1827: 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 195 

"Missionaries who reside within a convenient dis- 
tance shall hold stated and occasional meetings for 
solemn consultation and prayer in reference to the 
object of their pursuit; and no missionary shall attempt 
anything new or important, involving expense or other- 
wise affecting the interests of the mission, but with 
the advice and consent of a majority of the brethren, 
as well as in conformity with the regulations of the 
Board." (46.5) 

In 1838 measures were taken for a more perfect 
organization of Missions and the Executive Com- 
mittee of the Board voted to divide certain Mis- 
sions of the Board and to constitute others. (46.6) 

Their Abolition. This centralization, however, 
reached its climax in 1853 when the Deputation to 
Burma showed that in practice the plan was pro- 
ducing friction amongst the missionaries. (37.2) 
One of the Reports of the American Baptist Mis- 
sionary Union thus describes the influences at work 
to produce a change : 

"The Missions thus organized assumed to direct all 
local matters, as for instance where there should be a 
school, and what should be its grade, and who should 
teach it. It often happened that four men in a Mission 
assumed to decide where a fifth should go, and what 
he must do, whether he felt free to do it or not. This 
method tended to produce alienation and strife. It 
seemed unwise for the Union to take away this au- 
thority of the Mission over the liberty of its members 
and to make each man as free in his actions as pastors 
are in this country." (23.3) 

The official change came in 1859 when the Re- 
vised Regulations then adopted provided: "That 
hereafter there shall be no organized Missions, but 



196 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

that every laborer shall be regarded as immediately 
responsible to the Executive Committee. . . ." 
(46.7) Thereafter the term "Mission" had respect 
to territorial divisions (viz., "Rangoon Mission") 
rather than the organization of a company of mis- 
sionaries. 

Underlying this transition seems to have been 
a false analogy between local churches and groups 
of missionaries associated together on the mission 
field. The freedom from accountability to any 
external earthly authority which Baptist polity has 
consistently ascribed to the church was carried over 
into another realm and led each missionary to feel 
that he should be allowed to act in absolute inde- 
pendence of his fellow-missionaries. The mission- 
ary expected to be as free as the pastor or evangelist 
in America. The general influence of this position 
still stamps the Baptist missionary and only slowly 
is it being overcome by the sheer demands of ef- 
ficiency in Mission administration. (35.1) 

Modern Tendency Toward Missions. In the 
Revised Regulations of 1859 which dissolved the 
Missions of the Baptist Board, a suggestion was 
made, however, that bore fruit in India forty years 
later in an approach to the old system of Missions. 
After directing that there should be no organized 
Missions they added : 

"The missionaries in any particular field are advised 
to form associations among themselves according to 
convenience, for free conference, mutual counsel and 
encouragement respecting their work." (23.4) 

These Mission Conferences, then, were started to 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 197 

meet the social and religious needs of the mission- 
aries with little or no permanent organization. 
Gradually they took on a more definite form, and 
they have become very serviceable in the promotion 
of plans by which advisory action in relation to 
mission interests is secured on mission fields. 

During the last fifteen years this development 
has been much more marked. Both the Executive 
Committee in America and many workers on the 
mission fields found that the practice of dealing 
almost exclusively with individual workers brought 
obvious disadvantages with the growth and com- 
plexity of the work. To meet this an important 
step was taken in 1899, in the suggestion of a plan 
for advisory action on the part of Mission Con- 
ferences upon all questions relating to financial 
appropriations or to the work of the several mis- 
sions. (33.2) The advisory functions of these 
Conferences together with the system of Reference 
Committees later developed has resulted in a dis- 
tinct approach on the part of the Baptists to the 
old type of "Mission." In theory the individuality 
of the missionary is still given considerable free- 
dom, for overt authority on the part of a "Mission" 
is inconsistent with traditions cherished amongst the 
Baptists. The fear has been expressed that this 
centralization in Conference action would tend to 
lessen the sympathy between the missionary and 
the Indian Christian (23.8), but it is said that such 
has not been the result. (40.1) 



198 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

5. The Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Identification of Mission with Church. Theo- 
retically the Methodist missionaries could have 
organized themselves into Missions apart from the 
Quarterly, Annual, Central and Quadrennial Con- 
ferences of the Church system proper, just as 
Presbyterians have elected to carry out their mis- 
sionary administrative work in Missions rather 
than in Presbyteries, Synods and General Assem- 
bly. But the establishment of such Missions 
separate from the Church is not found in Metho- 
dism.* In other words the Methodists, beginning 
their work in India in 1856, did exactly with refer- 
ence to their system what Dr. Lowrie so strongly 
and persistently urged without result with refer- 
ence to the Presbyterian system. 

After the work of any group of missionaries has 
passed its initial stagef a regular Annual Confer- 
ence of the Church is organized. The Methodists 
have chosen, therefore, to develop their Church in 
India, working from within not only ecclesiastically, 
but administratively. 

The Effect On Church Union. One very marked 
result of this interrelation or rather identity of 
Church and Mission in the Methodist economy is 
that Church union in India for them is made ex- 
ceedingly difficult. Their Central Conference in- 
cludes districts as widely separated as Karachi and 
Manila. If the Methodists of any section of the 

* An exception (practically under compulsion) is found in Japan. 

t Called in their Book of Discipline a "Mission," but by that 
meaning something different from the technical sense in which 
we have used the term in this inquiry, cf. (99) 



DISSOLUTION OF THE "MISSION" 199 

country should go into a union such as the South 
India United Church, they would have not only to 
withdraw from the Methodist Episcopal Church 
but to set up entirely new machinery for carrying 
on their missionary work. Hence while other 
Churches are working toward organic union in 
India in the interests of the Indian Church the 
Methodists stand for federation. 

Provision for Woman's Work. It may be asked 
how they have overcome the problem of woman's 
work which as we saw in section one of this chapter 
was one of the factors which made the dissolution 
of the Mission seem impossible for the Presby- 
terians. In the first place it may be said that women, 
whether foreign or Indian, are eligible to member- 
ship in all Church Conferences except to that one 
Conference composed of ordained men only and 
to which no layman is delegated. (120.6) While 
women may be full members of all but one of the 
Conferences in the Methodist system the solution of 
the arranging for woman's work lies rather in the 
fact that connected with each Annual and District 
Conference there is a properly organized Woman's 
Conference, meeting at the same time and place, 
and taking full cognizance of woman's work. 
(105.2) In practice their powers are very great 
although all their actions must be reviewed by the 
men. 

6. Summary. 

Historically we have found three solutions to 
the question whether the administrative side of mis- 
sion work be carried on within or without the 



200 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

Indian Church. One Society has consistently done 
all its work from within the Church. Three of the 
five Societies considered have acted on the policy 
of having definitely organized Missions quite 
separate from the Indian Church (although one for 
over twenty years made earnest efforts toward the 
dissolution of their Mission). The fifth Society 
after having tried the method of organized Mis- 
sions abandoned it for reasons connected more 
with their polity than with the development of the 
Indian Church, and have worked from without 
the Indian Church by an individualistic method. 

In only one instance amongst these is ther'e 
strong evidence of policy being consciously deter- 
mined with the development of the Indian Church 
definitely in mind. In this case, after a long and 
serious consideration of the dissolution of the Mis- 
sion, the idea was abandoned, and the principle was 
established that "best results in mission work . . . 
will be attained only when right lines of distinction 
are observed between the functions of the native 
Churches and the functions of the foreign Mis- 
sions ; the Missions contributing to the establish- 
ment of the native Churches and looking forward 
to passing on into the regions beyond when their 
work is done, and the native Churches growing up 
with an independent identity from the beginning, 
administering their own contributions and resources, 
unentangled with any responsibility for the ad- 
ministration of the Missions or of the funds com- 
mitted to the Mission." 






THE APPOINTMENT OF INDIANS AS FULL 
MEMBERS OF THE MISSION. 

THE second problem as stated at the begin- 
ning of the last Chapter is whether devolu- 
tion should take place by identifying 
Indians with the Mission. In its extreme form it 
raises the question whether they should be made 
full members with the status of foreign mission- 
aries. It is interesting to see how persistently this 
problem arises. Those who have not lived in 
India can hardly realize the constant pressure 
that falls upon missionaries to secure this recog- 
nition for outstanding fellow-workers. 

Government Analogy. This is due in the first 
place to the analogy that is drawn between the 
British Government in India and the Foreign Mis- 
sionary Societies. The constant refrain is : Govern- 
ment admits us to its service, could not the 
Mission do the same? The fact that the political 
goal of most young Indians with western edu- 
cation is service under a foreign government 
leads easily to the idea that the highest place in 
religious service is employment under a foreign 
missionary Society. For it is not easy to have a 
thoroughgoing spirit of independence in the Church 
when this spirit finds little chance for development 

201 



202 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

in the State. Both of these ambitions involve 
dependence. This is not our ideal for the Indian 
Church. 

Sense of Injustice. There can be no doubt as 
to how most Indians feel upon this question. A few 
years ago a symposium was held in the "Young 
Men of India" on the question: "Why more edu- 
cated men are not entering distinct Christian work?" 
There were thirteen correspondents amongst lead- 
ing Indian Christians in various sections of the 
country. All the correspondents declared that the 
organization of Indian missions, so far as Indian 
workers are concerned, stood greatly in need of 
reform. The chief points complained of were four : 
an Indian worker is not allowed a voice in the 
deliberative assemblies of the mission in the same 
way as a European or American missionary; an 
Indian worker cannot hope to reach an independent 
position, so as to be free with regard to his work ; 
Indian workers feel that their position in mission 
work is unstable — they are liable to be dismissed 
at the whim of individual missionaries ; salaries are 
insufficient, and there is no pension. (114.2) 

The Indian Moderator in his address at the Gen- 
eral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in India 
in 191 3 said that the principal reason why the 
educated Indian Christian does not enter the min- 
istry, is that he "resents the difference made be- 
tween his status and pay and that of a European 
missionary for no other reasons than that he is 
an Indian." (1 13.12) In further illustration of this 
same point of view let us see the way it is put by 
a prominent Christian layman in Government ser- 



INDIANS AS MEMBERS OF MISSIONS 203 

vice in an address before a certain Presbytery. He 
said: 

"However well and however long an Indian mis- 
sionary may work and however successful he may be 
in the conversion of souls he is not entitled to the same 
salary, position and status as a foreign missionary 
simply for the reasons that he is an Indian and that 
the money spent on his pay is not Indian money. . . . 
The question of status is the chief hindrance to edu- 
cated Indian Christians joining the ministry. At 
present an Indian missionary has no vote and no 
position. It is true that here and there we find a 
missionary who is consulted on missionary questions 
on account of his ability and character, but such a 
position is unsatisfactory for both parties, and the days 
are past when such a procedure can succeed. I believe 
it is a fact that wives of all foreign missionaries have 
a vote in the Mission whether they do anything or not. 
Yet no Indian, though it is so many years since Chris- 
tianity was preached in this land, has yet been given 
a vote or a hand in the disposal of Mission problems. 
It cannot be said that there are no Indian Christian 
missionaries fitted for the vote, and an equal position 
with foreign missionaries." (75) 

Now there can be no doubt that all these leaders 
would at once agree that these strictures are not 
equally applicable to all Missions. Some Missions, 
as we shall see in Chapter VI, give Indian workers 
rights of deliberation and an independent position, 
and in others, where these privileges may not be 
sufficiently given, there is a certain amount of sta- 
bility in the position of ordained Indian mission- 
aries. But the symposium, the address by the 
Indian Moderator and paper by an Indian civilian 
may be taken as illustrative of opinions that could 



204 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

be reduplicated indefinitely from practically every 
discussion where the subject is raised by Indians. 
Whether the solution implied in these frank Indian 
judgments is sound may be questioned; but that 
we have here facts of attitude cannot be doubted. 
The real solution will lie in the discovery and 
counteraction of the causes of these attitudes. But 
in the meantime the refusal of the home Societies 
to give Indians an equal status with foreign mis- 
sionaries, along with their desire to work with the 
Mission if some suitable status and salary can only 
be devised, raises one of the difficult problems that 
men on the field have to work out with patience 
and experiment. Of these two things what Indians 
more desire is an equal status with missionaries; 
what the Societies seem most ready to concede 
is salary. 

Educational Method. Furthermore there are 
those who in the endeavor to serve the highest 
interests of the Indian Church, urge that at present 
the sphere of influence of the Indian pastor is small ; 
that the dignity and status of being a member of 
the Mission would greatly enlarge this realm of 
influence. They would say that if ever the Indian 
brethren are to conduct affairs they must be first 
taught how, not only by example but also by en- 
joying a share in the responsibilities of adminis- 
tration. With this in view at the Bombay Decen- 
nial Mission Conference the suggestion was made 
that "the ordination of a brother should be the key 
to admit him to the councils of the Mission/' 

(i 19-3) 
The Needs of Missions for Advice. When to the 



INDIANS AS MEMBERS OF MISSIONS 205 

governmental analogy, the very distinct sense of 
injustice on the part of the more capable Indian 
workers, and the sympathetic desire to train them 
for their service to India, you add the more and 
more acknowledged and very real need on the part 
of the Missions for the advice in their work of 
expert Indians a very strong argument is produced. 
Many missionaries also are beginning to acknowl- 
edge the moral obligation they have in permitting 
the earnest, intelligent, zealous Christians of a 
mission field to have a voice in how their country 
is to be evangelized. Thus we are not surprised 
to find that one of the most authoritative, as well 
as most recent, judgments of Indian missionaries 
on this question points in this direction. It is 
found in a resolution of the National Conference 
at Calcutta during the series of Continuation Com- 
mittee Conferences in 1912-13. While not absolutely 
explicit on this question of the full membership 
of Indians in Missions it can be (as we shall see 
that in fact it has been) urged in support of such 
membership. It reads: 

"This Conference desires further to record the con- 
viction that whenever capable and spiritually minded 
men and women are discovered, Churches and Mis- 
sions should make a real and unmistakable advance 
by placing Indians on a footing of complete equality, 
in status and responsibility, with Europeans, and thus 
open for them the highest and most responsible positions 
in every department of missionary activity." (121.1) 

Reasons Against Such Appointments. When, 
therefore, such repeated requests come from Indians 
and missionaries on the field, why do the Societies 



206 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

at home with practical unanimity refuse this status 
to those about whose ability there is no question? 
The answer to the political argument in its nar- 
rowest form is easy. But to point out that India 
is taxed for the support of the British Civil Ser- 
vice but is not taxed for foreign Missions, that 
there is no case here of taxation without represen- 
tation, and that therefore there is no question of 
right involved, would be simply cold logic and 
apart from the spirit in which any conclusion must 
be reached. There are more urgent reasons. 

The request frequently arises in behalf of men 
or women who have been thoroughly educated in 
England or America. To such a request it is 
replied that a few appointments of this kind would 
result in a flood of applications from men already 
in these countries, and would encourage immigra- 
tion by men who would hope to go back with the 
status of foreign missionaries. It would be very 
difficult to mete out justice between foreign-trained 
and Indian-trained men of ability if once the clean- 
cut line between the foreign missionary and the 
Indian worker is laid aside. 

The Societies in America, as well as the Missions 
in the field, must be alert to devolve their respon- 
sibilities. To begin adding Indians to their list 
of missionaries would be to increase indefinitely 
their ties with the field instead of decreasing them. 
This would not take place, perhaps, if the Indian 
simply supplanted an American, but it would 
if all who are fitted for it and desire it could be 
appointed. 

Missionaries of wide experience say that such 



INDIANS AS MEMBERS OF MISSIONS 207 

an appointment tends to separate the Indian so 
appointed from his people; it connects his life, 
associations and interests with a foreign regime 
rather than with his church; that it is apt also to 
create pride of position and that it would be a 
strain greater than most could bear not to magnify 
the status of having direct relations with America 
rather than with his Church; that it is apt also to 
Indian agents working with the Missions it would 
be an unjustifiable distinction to set a few apart 
for relationship with America. Authorities here 
do not feel they would be right in creating inevi- 
table separation between leaders and people. 

Still further it is urged that such a step would 
be against the interests of self-support and self- 
government. If one is appointed why not many? 
Universalize it and suppose that all the Mission 
Colleges and schools were staffed with Indian 
Christian teachers, all hospitals with Indian Chris- 
tian doctors, all the stations under Indian workers, 
and all the foreign missionary appointments held 
by Indians, would this be any very noteworthy 
achievement for the Indian Church? It would 
indeed show that the Christian community pos- 
sessed men of intelligence and ability. But such 
a situation might co-exist with resignation on their 
part to dependence in control and support. Devo- 
lution to a thoroughly independent indigenous 
body would in this case be harder and more hope- 
less than if one waited patiently for the spirit and 
the power of self-reliance to develop in the grow- 
ing Church independent from the start. It would 
mean a perpetuation of the overshadowing of the 



208 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

Church by the Mission, to which the best men 
would tend to gravitate. This would leave the 
actual leadership and setting of standards in the 
Church to inferior men. 

It is from this general point of view that Bishop 
Wm. R. Tucker of Uganda gives the following 
ringing testimony to his convictions on this subject. 
It could be said in any land by one who believes 
in and achieves (as has Bishop Tucker) the ideal 
of a vigorous independent Church. He says : 

"For my part, I would rather die than ask an 
English Society to take one of my Native Clergy upon 
its list. At any rate, instead of taking pride and 
pleasure in it, I should regard it as a terrible disaster, 
and a disgrace and shame both to myself and the Native 
Church. As long as Societies, Bishops and native con- 
gregations view such a proceeding as I have referred 
to with approval, pride, and pleasure, so long will the 
independence of Native Churches be absolutely hopeless 
of attainment." (132.2) 

Here then, again, we face a problem in educa- 
tion. Can the end best be served by detaching 
pastors and other leaders from their people and 
knitting them to an organization that is acknowl- 
edged to be foreign and temporary? Or even if 
it means deep sacrifice on the part of those leaders 
in setting high rich ideals of independence from 
the first should they not rather cleave to their 
people in confident expectation of that fruit which 
springs up a hundred fold when the grain falls deep 
into the furrow? Having seen the problem let us 
find how Boards and Missions have actually met it. 



INDIANS AS MEMBERS OF MISSIONS 209 



2. Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. 

Missionary Approval of Membership of In- 
dians in Mission. Once in almost every decade 
for the past sixty years the problem of permitting 
Indian membership in Presbyterian Missions has 
been up for decision. From India more than from 
other Presbyterian mission fields the problem has 
been raised. It is a marked example of how per- 
sistently environmental influences creep in to shape 
judgment even to the exclusion of fundamental 
principles. The missionaries submerged in an 
atmosphere permeated with the ambition and the 
practice of taking government service; hearing 
continually the complaint that, in the service of 
the Mission, status is denied the most worthy rep- 
resentatives of India; w T ith true respect for the 
capabilities of outstanding men, and with a real de- 
sire to show no racial superiority, missionaries 
have over and over again sought from the 
authorities in New York the boon of full mem- 
bership in the Mission for their Indian fellow- 
workers. 

Indians connected with the Presbyterian Church 
in India on their part may well feel their claim 
is all the more reasonable since the vast majority 
of Presbyterian missionaries have a full vote in 
the Presbytery, Synod anl General Assembly. It 
seems that there is inconsistency in the missionary's 
including himself in the Indian Church courts and 
excluding the Indian from any share in the func- 
tions of the Mission. Or if they are admitted 



210 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

with less than full status, this honour is given to 
extremely few, while all ordained missionaries 
may join the Presbyteries. 

The home authorities would say that the way 
out of this inconsistency is not for the Indian to 
be given full status in the Mission, but for the 
missionary to forego full status in the Presbytery. 
The Board therefore has repeatedly refused to 
grant direct appointment to Indians. The subject 
first came up in 1848 when Rev. Gopie Nath Nundy 
presented a claim to be regarded not only as a 
member of the Presbytery, which had not been 
called in question, but also as a member of the 
Mission in such a sense as to be entitled to an 
equal share in directing all its business matters 
with other missionaries. The Board decided that 
his claim to be a full member of the Mission "so 
far as pecuniary business matters are concerned, 
cannot be allowed." (49.14) 

In 1870 the Mission requested that the Board 
appoint two specified Indians as members of the 
Mission (52.8) and the request was repeated for 
one of them in 1889. (52.9) In the midst of the 
very earnest thought given to the problem of the 
dissolution of the Mission from 1 873-1 891 as out- 
lined in the previous Chapter we find the pendu- 
lum swing to the opposite extreme — the inclusion 
of Indians in the Mission. At one stage (viz. 
1878), when they had come for the time to the 
conclusion that the Presbyteries were not compe- 
tent to control work such as the Mission was carry- 
ing on, a substitute plan was proposed that the 
Board in New York should be requested to appoint 



INDIANS AS MEMBERS OF MISSIONS 211 

certain well-qualified Indians as full members of 
the Mission (52.7) 

In 1 89 1 at a combined meeting of the Pan jab 
and North Indian Missions with one of the Board 
Secretaries on the field, their committee recom- 
mended that, on a two-thirds vote of the Mission, 
Indian brethren should cease to be employees of 
the Mission and have direct connection with the 
Board. "We believe that the adoption of this recom- 
mendation by the Board would be of great benefit 
to our native church and of help to the Missions 
in their counsels." (59.3) Still again in 1898 the 
Pan jab Mission asked the Board to permit the 
Mission to unite with themselves as voting mem- 
bers a certain number of Indians," say four or five, 
election to membership to be by unanimous vote 
of the Mission." (52.11) Again with reference to 
one who seemed to the Mission like a very excep- 
tional case (an Indian of fine family, character, 
ability and education in America) a request was 
made to the Board, viz., that they appoint this per- 
son "with the full status and privileges of an 
American missionary, the only limitation being in 
regard to her salary, allowances and furlough." 
(52.12) The most recent authoritative declaration 
of Presbyterian missionaries on this question was 
at the Conference of Representatives from the 
three Presbyterian Missions with one of the Board's 
Secretaries at Allahabad in 1913. One resolution 
there passed reads : 

"The highest and most responsible positions in every 
department of work carried on by the Missions should 
be open to members of the Church whose gifts and 



212 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

character show them worthy of trust and honour." 
(69.O 

This, like the resolution of the Continuation Com- 
mittee National Conference quoted in the introduc- 
tion, is not explicit on the question of full mem- 
bership in the Mission and can be interpreted so 
as not to involve this ; but many desired it to mean 
no less than approval of that measure. 

The Board's Consistent Refusal of Member- 
ship to Indians in Mission. It appears from in- 
vestigation that the Board has only once wavered 
from a consistent opposition to this tendency to 
make Indians full members of the Mission. In 
1888 in connection with a very complicated case 
of an appeal from the Mission to the Board by an 
Indian the Board adopted a report, one resolution 
of which reads as follows: 

"Your Committee would further suggest that the 
office be recommended to report to the Board whether 
in their judgment it is possible to adjust more happily 
its relations between foreign missionaries and native 
ministers, either by transferring to Presbytery and 
Synod some of the functions now exercised by the 
Mission, or by making native ministers, in some cases, 
appointees of the Board, with a voice in the practical 
administration of Mission affairs." (49.8) 

This, however, was not more than a suggestion, 
and the actual practice of the Board has been 
uniformly against the appointment of Indians to 
full membership in the Mission. 

Consultative Members. Precedents have, how- 
ever, been established for Indian honorary mem- 
bers of the Mission with full right to attend Mis- 



INDIANS AS MEMBERS OF MISSIONS 213 

sion meetings, take part in discussions, offer 
resolutions, but not to vote. The Pan jab Mission 
has had three such cases since 1890; the North 
India Mission has had one; and at the Conference 
of the Western India Mission with the Board Sec- 
retary in 1912 it was resolved: 

"That while it would not seem wise for the Indian 
brethren to be full members of the Mission, it might 
well be considered if they could not be brought into 
some advisory and consultative relation to the Mission, 
that they might be strengthened by feeling that the 
missionary was dependent upon them." (68.1) 

3. Reformed Church in America. 

The Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed 
Church in America has never appointed a native 
of India as a missionary on the regular basis. (92) 
However, their Arcot Mission in 1913 raised this 
very question with reference to a special case. 
The plan proposed was that an Indian gentleman 
and his wife — mature, experienced, tried workers — 
should be given permanent employment by the 
Board and should be termed "Indian missionaries/' 
So far as the work committed to them would be 
concerned they should stand related to the Mission 
as any foreign missionary, i.e. in full charge, sub- 
ject to the rules and the final authority of the Mis- 
sion. They would not be voting members of the 
Mission although they would be invited to sit as 
Corresponding Members at sessions of the Mission 
meeting when their work would be under consid- 
eration. In the covering letter to the Board it 
was said: 



214 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

"The Mission has committed itself to the policy of 
employing more highly qualified Indians in our work 
and of giving them a more favorable status. It is the 
line of development that Missions must take if our 
work is to become indigenous. It is a fair complaint 
against us that we have been very slow and conserva- 
tive in this matter." (93) 

This case is all the more interesting because 
(arising as it has since the Continuation Committee 
Conferences in Asia) the resolution quoted in the 
introduction to this Chapter from the findings of 
the National Conference at Calcutta, was used in 
support of the request of the Mission. It is in- 
structive to find that notwithstanding the serious- 
ness of this request the Board in reply asked the 
Mission to "consider whether in their judgment it 
may not be possible to relate the service of the 
one in question to the native Church rather than 
to the foreign Mission." (83.1) 



4. The American Board. 

Consistent Refusal. The American Board has 
never appointed as missionary any Indian trained 
in this country or elsewhere. The nearest approach 
to this in any country is in the case of Mr. Neesima 
of Japan who was appointed to be an associate 
member of the Mission. (18) Dr. Rufus Ander- 
son held very clear views with reference to this 
question and frequently stated that while the native 
pastor must be admitted to an Association or Pres- 
bytery with an equal vote, yet "into the Mission he 
cannot be received." (7.13) We will see in Chap- 



INDIANS AS MEMBERS OF MISSIONS 215 

ter VI to what a large extent Indians have been 
brought into the Mission as partial members. 



5. The American Baptist Mission Society. 

The Society Has Refused to Appoint Indians 
Direct. The American Baptist Mission Society 
also has so consistently refused to appoint as mis- 
sionaries natives of any country in which it has 
work that requests for this rarely arise. (42.1) 
The Annual Conference of the Telegu Baptist 
Mission in 191 1, "after careful consideration of the 
question of the employment of assistant mission- 
aries" decided that the plan was unwise, which po- 
sition was approved by the Executive Committee in 
Boston. (21.2) 

Forty and fifty years ago we find repeated in- 
stances where the Board in Boston paid the travel- 
ing expenses back to Burma of natives who had 
been educated in this country, frequently with the 
stipulation that they should take up Mission service, 
but this is far different from direct employment by 
the Board. (21.3) 

6. The Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Experience of Appointments. The Board of 
Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church has appointed several exceptionally strong 
Anglo-Indians as full missionaries. In some cases 
it has worked well, but in others it has created 
an unrest in the minds of fellow-workers leading 
them by some means or other to come to America 



216 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

for a similar advancement. One talented young 
Indian lady on a visit to the United States was 
offered the status of full missionary, but she re- 
fused from fear of arousing jealousy amongst less 
favoured ones in India, and also lest it should 
create a false ideal for others. It was her deliberate 
conviction that it would be better for the women 
of India to maintain a separate position from that 
of the foreign missionaries. (107) 

Home Missionaries. Realizing that the employ- 
ment of highly trained and thoroughly capable 
Indians does raise a problem of status that cannot 
be brushed aside, the Board of Foreign Missions 
has in 1914 outlined a policy which has not yet 
been approved by the Missionary Bishops with ref- 
erence to such men, especially those trained in 
foreign lands. It states that it is not advisable that 
appointment should be made directly by the Board, 
since such men can only find their greatest useful- 
ness by being closely allied with the Indian Church, 
from which they have come and to which they 
should return without any taint of denationaliza- 
tion upon them. The Board, however, expresses 
vital interest in such young men and wishes to 
invite them to share in the leadership of the Chris- 
tian movement in their own lands. The suggestion 
is that a class of Home Missionaries be created, 
with special regulations as to furlough, salary, 
retiring allowances, etc., appointment to which 
would be from the field. 



INDIANS AS MEMBERS OF MISSIONS 217 

7. Summary. 

We have seen: 

1. That while there are influences impelling the 
grant of full membership in the Mission to excep- 
tional Indian leaders, there are principles with 
reference to the establishment of a self-governing, 
self-supporting, self-propagating Church that make 
the granting of such membership unwise. 

2. That missionaries on the field are in general 
more ready to grant equality of status to their 
Indian brethren than are the Societies at home. 

3. That four out of the five Boards considered 
have never appointed an Indian as full member of 
a Mission; that the fifth Board, after experience 
in the few instances so granted, have drafted a 
policy in which they state the inadvisability of this 
procedure. 

4. That there is a real problem in connection 
with the status of highly trained capable Indian 
workers which is being met by various Missions 
in various ways, other than by full membership 
in the Mission. 



VI 

PLANS OF DEVOLUTION BETWEEN MIS- 
SION AND CHURCH, EACH 
REMAINING DISTINCT. 

THE problem of this Chapter may be stated 
thus : In what way historically have Mis- 
sion and Church attempted to retain their 
separate identity with clear-cut distinction of func- 
tion; and by what adjustments has devolution of 
powers and responsibilities under these circum- 
stances been attempted? 

In the detailed actions of the various Societies 
which follow three tendencies will be noticed, 
under one or the other of which each piece of 
legislation may be placed. The first tendency may 
be called Church-centric. While not going so far 
as to advocate the complete dissolution of a Mis- 
sion, it yet attempts to turn over to the Church 
certain limited powers and responsibilities. It 
differs from the normal absorption by the Church 
of the functions of the Mission through growth in 
virility and self-supporting power in that the trans- 
fer is made for educative and developmental rea- 
sons; it is done to bring out capacity, rather than 
in response to capacity already developed. 

The second tendency may be called Mission- 
centric. While not going to the extreme of making 

218 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 219 

Indians full members of the Mission, it yet by- 
one method or another attaches them to the Mis- 
sion for counsel or actual service in a way that 
places the center of gravity in thought and attitude 
in the foreign organization. 

The third tendency is to establish a transitory 
organization. Both Church and Mission retain 
their integrity, but until the Church can normally 
assume all the functions of the Mission, and thus 
make possible its euthanasia, there is a midway 
organization to which large powers and responsi- 
bilities are given, starting under predominant Mis- 
sion control and gradually coming under predomi- 
nantly Indian control according to definitely stated 
rules. 

We place the consideration of the Arcot and 
Madura Missions first since they will furnish the 
best base line for judging the extent of transfer 
of ^authority as found in other Missions. It is 
noteworthy that the Church Council system of 
Secretary Henry Venn had been in operation for 
thirty-five years in the Church Missionary Society, 
before Americans modeled any plan upon it, as 
was done by these two Missions in 1910. 

1. The Reformed Church in America. 

Foundation Work. The first thoroughgoing 
plan for the devolution of functions from Mission 
to Church appears in the Arcot Mission in 1910, 
when instead of the Mission and missionary having 
entire authority, Boards and Committees were 
established upon each of which Indians were in 



220 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

the majority. Before examining this far-reaching 
endeavor to let the Indian Church share in the 
authority and responsibilities of administering Mis- 
sion funds and work let us see what foundations 
had been laid; for no such change as that of 1910 
can successfully be brought about merely by vote. 
There had been expectation and patient work for 
many years developing character and enlarging 
experience. 

The beginnings of any formally organized devo- 
lution were very faint, and it is certainly instructive 
to note the contrast of the present with even the 
near past. Twenty years ago not a single church 
was self-supporting; there was not a single Indian 
church Treasurer, nor were Indians usually trusted 
even to get the bread and wine for Communion 
Services. (85.1) The "Fundamental Principles 
and Rules" of the Arcot Mission issued in 1895 
contains only one reference to Indians, and this 
simply states that a committee of two missionaries 
and three native assistants shall be appointed 
annually to draw up the program for an annual 
Conference the object of which was the attain- 
ment of a higher spiritual life. (86.1) In the Pro- 
ceedings of the Joint Commission which arranged 
for the formation of the South India United 
Church it is distinctly stated that no change in the 
financial arrangements of the Mission is contem- 
plated nor any change in the management of Mis- 
sion work as distinct from what is peculiarly the 
work of the Indian Church. (88) 

In 1881 a Pastor's Aid Fund was established 
which has continued ever since. (80.4) But it was 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 221 

especially during the decade preceding 19 10 that 
there was very definite effort made by individual 
missionaries to give a large share of local control 
and responsibility to Indian Christians. Frequently 
mention was made of the development not only of 
self-support, but of self-government, showing that 
the minds of the missionaries were upon the prob- 
lem of devolution (85.5) Many of the reports 
mention the Y. P. S. C. E. (started in the Arcot 
Mission about 1889) as being a pre-eminent agency 
in training the laity on the conduct of affairs (85.2) 

The first instance of distinct transfer of respon- 
sibility took place as recently as 1908, when two 
Indian ministers were given semi-independent 
charge of certain evangelistic workers and terri- 
tory. The next year independent charge of a Mis- 
sion Hospital was given to an Indian Physician. 
(90.1) 

Focusing on the Problem. The immediate occa- 
sion of the new T and far-reaching measures of 
1910 is to be found in a conference of missionaries 
and Indian Christians in 1908 the object of which 
was to consider means looking toward the trans- 
ference of responsibility from the Mission to the 
native Church. Eight definite resolutions were 
passed, the preamble of which was as follows : 

u Whereas, Until now the American Arcot Mission- 
aries themselves have been responsible for evangelistic 
work, schools, and finances in the bounds of our con- 
gregations; but, 

"Whereas, The time has come when the native con- 
gregations should undertake these responsibilities them- 
selves, therefore" . . . 



222 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

Amongst the resolutions which followed were 
recommendations that each church should take up 
the fullest responsibilities suited to its power; that 
a larger share of the raising and spending of 
church funds, of the direction of the church 
work, of discipline, and of evangelistic work 
should be given to the members of village congre- 
gations; and that a committee be appointed to 
study up the progress of self-support, self-govern- 
ment and self-propagation among native Christians 
in other countries (80.5) 

The results of these resolutions and of the spirit 
back of them are seen in the reports for the next 
year. Of one church over a half a century old the 
report was made that it "for the first time to 
my knowledge has collected, kept and disbursed 
its own money amounting to about Rs.iooo." 
Another church also over fifty years old, in which 
the pastor had carried the responsibility and had 
hitherto held the authority himself, erected a full 
Session of four Elders and four Deacons, and 
divided the work of the congregation among its 
members; furthermore the pastor was greatly re- 
lieved and encouraged, and the contributions in- 
creased. Statements such as the following occur 
in the reports of the next two years: "Nearly all 
the churches now practically manage their own 
affairs and the number of those wholly self-sup- 
porting is yearly increasing." "The movement 
towards self-government grows apace. Better busi- 
ness methods characterize both congregational and 
village affairs." (85.3) 

It will be seen, therefore, that for some years a 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 223 

process of definite education had been going on 
and that there had been response on the part of 
the people. The Arcot missionaries now desired 
to take an advance step; missionaries of other 
Churches, yet associated with the Arcot misionaries 
in the South India United Church, desired them 
to wait until some uniform plan of devolution 
could be promulgated throughout this entire body. 
But wise plans of devolution require care, detailed 
adjustment and intimate knowledge of men. The 
Arcot missionaries evidently felt this and decided 
that it was wiser to experiment with a plan in a 
smaller unit than the whole United Church. (91) 

The Arcot Plan of Devolution. A representative 
Committee of three missionaries and nine Indians 
— five pastors and four laymen — were appointed 
to prepare a plan of co-operation by which the 
Church, though not able financially or morally to 
assume full responsibility and authority for all Mis- 
sion work, might yet take the support and direction 
of Christian work in its territory. In due time 
their plan, somewhat modified, was adopted by Mis- 
sion and Church, and passed into operation Octo- 
ber, 19 10. 

The plan for this radical change in Mission ad- 
ministration is too long and detailed to be inserted 
here. However, as to organization it may be 
said that they arranged the 10,000 Christians 
within the bounds of the Arcot Mission into 
thirteen Pastorates, these Pastorates into four 
Circles, and these Circles into "The Board of the 
Indian Churches." It should be remembered that 
this was new machinery for the administration of 



224 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

affairs formerly carried on by the Mission and was 
in addition to the ecclesiastical system of Classis, 
Synod and Assembly already in operation by the 
Church. For example, the Pastorate Committee, in 
personnel and field of labor, was almost identical 
with the church Session; but the former was the 
primary executive body for carrying on the work 
of the Board, while the Session was the primary 
ecclesiastical authority of the church. The Circle 
Committees (upon each of which there were only 
from one to three missionaries out of twenty mem- 
bers) assumed in general the authority and exer- 
cised the functions hitherto lying with the mission- 
ary alone. The Board (of which four or five out 
of twelve members were missionaries) assumed, 
in general, the authority and exercised the functions 
hitherto embodied in the Mission. 

As to the work judged suitable to be transferred, 
the Mission gave over to the "Board of Indian 
Churches" and its subordinate Committees the 
direction of all Station and village churches, with 
the congregations and schools connected with them, 
and the direction of all catechists and teachers 
working in them. The Mission, however, was left 
with the supervision and control of the medical, 
industrial and higher educational work. But there 
was the intention of gradually transferring addi- 
tional responsibility, either by decreasing the grant 
or by transferring some more of the work still 
carried on by the Mission. 

To aid in financing the work thus turned over 
the Mission made a grant to the Board of a sum 
equal to the amount then being spent on the work 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 225 

to be transferred. The magnitude of the interests 
involved may be judged from the fact that some 
two hundred Indian agents, one hundred and fifty 
schools, and over $14,000 passed under the control 
of the Board to which was added the contribution 
the Indians were able to give, i.e. $900. Checks 
and limitations of authority were of course pro- 
vided. The Mission was the final source of appeal 
and it might disallow any rules or regulations out 
of harmony with its own rules and interests so 
long as it contributed one-half or more of the 
income of the Board. It was distinctly stated, 
however, that it was so to exercise this authority 
as to develop the self-governing and self-support- 
ing ability of the Board. Furthermore of the twelve 
members of the Board four were elected by the 
Mission, and from these the Mission appointed 
three, to be the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and 
Treasurer respectively. Upon this missionary 
Chairman great responsibility fell, for he might 
veto any action of the Circle Committees bearing 
upon the Board's work or rules. He might also 
call for the minutes of any Pastorate Committee 
and veto any action which seemed to him contrary 
to the best interests of the organization or out 
of harmony with the Arcot Mission rules and 
usages. 

Greater detail cannot here be given regarding this 
plan, which is still in operation, but a sufficient 
outline has been given to indicate that in this 
scheme is found a serious attempt to devolve upon 
the Indian Church a large share of the work pre- 
viously carried on by the Mission, while at the 
same time safeguarding that transfer. 



226 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

An Estimate of Its Results. If we turn to the 
reports following 1910 (85.4) we may see how 
the system has worked in practice. At first the 
Indian representatives used their new prerogatives 
and powers timidly and hesitatingly and the lack 
of strong independent leadership was felt; but 
there was evidence of a fresh spirit in the work, 
of a new interest in economy and of greater effort 
for efficiency. Patient instruction in methods of 
administration and of keeping accounts had to be 
given, but in this as in other things there was from 
the first a growing conviction that leaders were 
being developed as never before. It is no small 
thing for the missionary Chairman to be able to re- 
port that a sum of some $20,000 is administered an- 
nually with economy and efficiency. It was possible 
the second year to give the Circle Committees a 
budget within which they were expected to keep 
their expenditures. Furthermore, as a result of 
experience in order to give a larger place to 
Indians, the Board was enlarged from twelve to 
sixteen. Anyone reading the last report on the 
work of the Indian Church Board will get the 
distinct impression that while things are not all 
simple and easy, while the Indian brethren have not 
in all cases measured up to the high standard 
coveted for them, while the machinery at times was 
felt to be a little cumbrous, yet there has been a 
definite change of attitude on the part of the Indians, 
a growing sense of responsibility and an educational 
process which with scientific certainty will develop 
trained leadership in the future. 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 227 

2. The American Board. 

The Madura Mission. We place next the dis- 
cussion of plans of devolution between Mission and 
Church in the Madura Mission of the American 
Board because it affords a second example of a 
thoroughly worked out system. In the light of 
the "Indian Church Boards" of the Arcot Mission 
and the "District Conference" of the Madura Mis- 
sion, one will be better able to judge of the extent 
of the transfer of authority as found in other Mis- 
sions. We will first look at the steps which led 
up to and made possible the present Madura plan. 

As early as 1888 the Madura Mission proposed 
a plan for selecting the best trained and most suit- 
able men that were available to be "superintending 
catechists" in the larger Stations and in vacant 
Stations, their duties being confined to spiritual 
work. The Board, however, thought this might 
raise up a favored class amongst the mission agents 
and so made no grant for carrying the plan out. 

(17.8) 

Representative Pastors. Six years later, how- 
ever, in 1894 the plan of employing Representative 
Pastors was instituted. The Mission was divided 
into five groups of Stations and a pastor was ap- 
pointed to each group. It was the duty of each 
of these Representatives to visit at Mission ex- 
pense each congregation of the portion of the field 
he represented, study the problems and interests 
of his district, report at the Mission meeting and 
there enter into discussions. In this way it was 
hoped to develop a sense of responsibility among 



SS8 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

the pastors, to give them a voice in the administra- 
tion of affairs outside of their own churches, to 
establish closer relations between missionaries and 
pastors, and to gain a clearer perception of the 
needs of the people. (5.7) 

The plan was improved with experience. In 1896 
instead of the Mission selecting the pastors the 
choice was left to the local Church Unions. (3.9) 
It was found, however, that the post was taken as 
an honor to be passed around, so in order to get 
the best men it was decided in 1898 to have the 
choice made by the highest ecclesiastical body, the 
General Church Union. (3.12) In 1899 the Sec- 
retary of the Madura Mission wrote to the Board : 

(< I am glad to say that this need of self-government 
is appreciated on both sides, and it seems so wise that 
we have elected two lay Representatives to sit with 
the pastors and ourselves in Mission business. Thus 
we shall have hereafter seven of our native brethren 
enjoying this honor and bearing this burden of respon- 
sibility." (19) 

In 1903 they were invited to meet during cer- 
tain sessions of both the January and the September 
meetings of the Mission. (3.13) In the sixteen 
years of its operation the plan undoubtedly did 
good. It was appreciated by the Indians; they 
were growing in their conception of the magnitude 
of the problems with which the Mission was con- 
fronted; they were learning that the funds of the 
Mission were not after all unlimited. In those 
years seventy- two subjects were discussed, many 
of them introduced by the representatives them- 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 229 

selves, and many of the discussions led to important 
action. (17.9) 

And yet this plan, while it may have been the 
best under the circumstances, and was undoubtedly 
a preparation for the larger scheme of devolution 
introduced in 1910, had nevertheless elements in 
it that could not make it permanently satisfactory 
to a self-respecting people. These pastors, origi- 
nally selected by the Mission, were asked in to 
the Mission meeting at a given fixed session, the 
Mission decided on the subjects that were to come 
up (although the pastors could send in writing a 
month in advance any suggestions for topics), 
and all money matters were decided apart in Mis- 
sion meeting. One can feel how absolutely centric 
and dominant the Mission was in such a plan. 

Station Committees. Quite apart from the plan 
of Representative Pastors, another method of turn- 
ing over responsibility to Indian Church members 
was started in a single station back in 1901 and 
was afterwards taken up by several others. Ac- 
cording to it the administration of the various 
kinds of work of the Station was put largely in 
the hands of a committee composed of the Pastor 
and the more experienced catechists, thus giving 
them a sense of responsibility and a training for 
larger duties. (5.8) This was certainly on the 
right lines, but it was adopted only locally and 
the center of gravity was still in the missionary. 

The District Conference. After twenty years of 
experiment with the increasing conviction that 
some more thoroughgoing plan of devolution was 
required, the Mission in 1910 inaugurated the 



230 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

scheme of the District Conference. In this trans- 
fer of power from the Mission to the Church we 
find one of the most important and far-reaching 
events thus far in the history of these churches. 
An examination of the "Rules and Regulations of 
the District Conference of the Churches within 
the Bounds of the Madura Mission" will show that 
the "District Conference" in the Madura Mission 
and the "Board of Indian Churches" in the Arcot 
Mission have very much in common. In each the 
Mission has turned over charge of the evangelistic, 
pastoral and elementary education* work in its 
field, but not those departments which have to do 
with medical work, with institutions for training 
workers and higher education generally. In each 
the funds received from America for the conduct 
of this work has been placed in the hands of the 
new organization for administration. Each is 
composed of Indian pastors and laymen and a 
few missionaries, and in each a part of the mem- 
bers are representatives chosen by the churches 
and part are individuals appointed by the Mission. 
Its Object. The object of the District Con- 
ference is officially thus stated: 

"To provide an organization by which the churches 
shall control and carry on the work properly belonging 
to them, receiving aid, for the present, from the 
Madura Mission." 

However, in the actual thought and practice of 
the system three objects may be distinguished. 

*In the Madura plan this included the transfer of Hindu Girls' 
Schools in nine Stations and the work of Bible women in nine 
Stations. 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 231 

The most obvious is that leadership may be 
developed in the Indian Church through the dis- 
charge of definite and much enlarged responsibility. 
The plan aims not only at the development of 
good generalship but the inspiration of the rank 
and file; it is an effort to enlist the lay member- 
ship in a partnership of service. Still a third end 
was the economy of funds and men in the adminis- 
tration of the Mission. By the new plan four out 
of nine missionaries were left entirely free from 
any direct responsibility for the expenditure of 
funds or the administration of work. Further by 
thus concentrating such work in the hands of the 
five others it was possible to employ competent 
Indian clerical assistance so that the serving of 
tables by the five missionary Chairmen of Circles 
was diminished rather than increased. This means 
a larger opportunity for direct and personal con- 
tact along specifically religious lines on the part 
of the missionary force. (5.12) 

Its Organization. The seven thousand com- 
municants were already organized in thirty-three 
pastorates. Pastorate Committees were organized 
in each of these. The thirty-three churches were 
grouped into five Circles, each with a Circle Com- 
mittee. Over all was the District Conference. 
Here, too, as in the Arcot Missions all this was 
new machinery apart from the ecclesiastical sys- 
tem of the South India United Church. 

The District Conference exercised jurisdiction 
over the whole district within the bounds of the 
Mission, in much the same way as the Mission had 
hitherto done, but only in matters pertaining to 



232 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

evangelistic work and elementary education. In 
these it had the final word. In general those ques- 
tions which have to do with the unification of 
the work as a whole or which have a relation 
wider than the bounds of a single Circle are re- 
served for settlement by the District Conference. 
The Circle Committees have been given very full 
powers; they exercise on the whole the functions 
hitherto exercised by the missionary. The Pas- 
torate Committees through which the Circle Com- 
mittees conduct their work are organized on the 
basis of the individual church. 

The system contains careful provision for checks. 
The Mission votes on the annual estimates asked 
by the District Conference from the American 
Board, but in practice little revision is made. (20) 
The Conference, Circle, and Pastorate Committee 
Chairman have definitely specified veto power. 

The Personnel of the System. To start with 
the District Conference consisted of nineteen In- 
dians, and nine missionaries. (5.1 1) Two years 
later in 1912, there were thirty-five members, al- 
most exactly a third were Indian pastors, one- 
third Indian laymen and one-third missionaries. 
The Constitution provides that the Chairman and 
Treasurer shall be appointed by the Mission; the 
Vice Chairman and Secretary shall be elected by 
the Conference. It will be noticed that while the 
Mission has the right to appoint certain members, 
there was nothing in the original constitution de- 
limiting the class to which the members shall belong. 
They might all be missionaries, all be laymen or 
all be pastors. As far as the necessary inclusion 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 233 

or exclusion of missionaries is concerned that 
statement still holds; but in 1912 special provision 
was made for lay representation. (5.13) 

The Circle Committees are composed of certain 
ex officio members, viz., all pastors and mission- 
aries (including wives) (3.14) within the bounds 
of the Circle and whose work is under the control 
of the Conference. There were also representa- 
tives elected from each Pastorate, and as many as 
three additional lay members chosen by the Mis- 
sion. So long as a Circle receives more than half 
its support from the Mission, the Chairman of 
the Circle is appointed by the Mission. 

In each Pastorate there is a Committee elected 
by the church or churches within the Pastorate, 
the pastor being the Chairman. To this body — in 
which the missionary has membership only by elec- 
tion — very considerable powers are given in the 
way of supervision and general administration 
under the direction of the Circle Committee. 

Difficulties and Adjustment. A plan as elabo- 
rate and far reaching as this naturally could not be 
perfect from the start. Its very complexity led to 
a certain loss in individual power. As an outstand- 
ing administrative agency it was apt to overshadow 
the ecclesiastical system, and there was a tendency 
to encroach on the ecclesiastical domain of the two 
Church Councils. (20) There was also the danger 
that official processes and clerical routine might 
stop the springs of spiritual dynamic. (5.12) In 
a few instances misunderstandings developed be- 
tween individuals as to authority and rights, since 



234 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

necessity might compel a Chairman to act before 
consultation with the Committee could be secured. 
Some found difficulty in abiding by the voice of the 
majority, while some few were inclined to utilize 
the very complexity of the scheme for ulterior 
purposes. A few pastors found that added 
responsibilities and authority brought possibilities 
of encountering opposition and jealousies before 
unknown. (5.13) Some felt that the plan overrode 
the autonomy of the local church by demanding 
that all funds be paid into the treasury of the 
Circles instead of that of the local church. These 
things simply meant that the novelty and en- 
thusiasm of a new undertaking had worn off, and 
that it was really being tested. 

The plan, however, is being gradually adjusted 
to these needs. One of the most significant 
changes was made in 1912 as a result of the fear 
that powers were being devolved not to the Indian 
Church but merely to the clergy of that Church. 
Laymen to start with were in a very small minority. 
It was felt that with India's previous history be- 
fore them, it would be unwise for the Mission to 
turn things over to a new religious hierarchy, and 
so amendments to the rules were made to meet 
this weakness in the system. It was arranged that 
two representatives on the District Conference in- 
stead of one should be elected by each of the Cir- 
cle Committees, and that these should be alternately 
a pastor and a layman. As a matter of fact there 
are not many laymen prepared to assume this 
responsibility, but it was felt that this provision 
for them in the constitution might hasten the day 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 235 

when they would be fit for such membership. The 
revised constitution provides for about equal 
representation for each of the three classes — pas- 
tors, laymen and missionaries. (5.13) 

Results of Experience. After three years of 
experience it could be said that there had been 
real progress in the central idea of the scheme, 
viz., the distribution of authority and power 
among a number of members of a committee in- 
stead of its being exercised by an individual, and 
the gradual transference of authority in Mission 
affairs from the Missionary to Indian brethren. 
(1.12) Some have noticed a decrease in the feel- 
ing that in making contributions they were in some 
way giving to a foreign and very wealthy Mission. 
(5.9) The emphasis has shifted from the idea of 
being a hireling to that of the owner. One can 
see the result of this personal interest and enlarged 
responsibility in the increasing proportion of In- 
dian funds to foreign funds. (128.5) 

To the surprise of many one of the five Circles 
was found at the beginning of the second year 
to have earned the privilege of having its chairman 
elected not by the Mission but by the District 
Conference, since counting not only the contribu- 
tions of the churches but the fees of the elementary 
schools, considerably more than half its income 
came from non-Mission sources. The missionary 
Chairman of course resigned when this was dis- 
covered; it is interesting that the Conference (to 
which under the circumstances the right of ap- 
pointment went) re-elected him. (5.12) 

The following are extracts from the reports of 



236 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

two of the five Circle Chairmen (missionaries) for 
1913: 

"I am able to realize its excellence as never before. 
After carrying the heavy responsibilities of one, some- 
times two and once of three stations, with not a pastor 
to relieve me during thirty years, it is a blessed relief 
to pass those responsibilities largely over to the Pas- 
torate Committee and devote my time to evangelistic 
work. Making repairs, engaging workers, raising 
wages, settling quarrels — all such is done by committee 
now and not by the individual missionary, as formerly. 
It would not be surprising if some mistake were made 
in the beginning in this new enterprise. I am astonished 
there are so few. I am delighted to find the utmost 
good feeling between the pastor (who is the leading 
spirit in the Committee) and the missionary. All 
stand ready to do their duty and a most delightful 
spirit of harmony prevails. It is a joy to work with 
them. ,, (5.14) 

"The work of the Circle has gone on happily and 
progressively. We have had our encouragements, and 
have had discouraging problems to meet and solve. 
Under the new plan of working the men feel their 
responsibility, as they did not under the earlier method. 
Working under the definitely limited figures of a 
budget is not as easy as looking to the missionary fc; 
the supply of every need. But there are compensations, 
too, and the necessity of bringing into service every 
possible source of income, and of enlisting each person 
in the endeavor to do his utmost, is making itself felt." 
(5.15) 

A Radical Step at Simplification. It has been 
pointed out that the formation of the District Con- 
ference system added to Mission and Church a third 
organization with its new machinery. In January, 
1915, the non-ecclesiastical District Conference 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 237 

was amalgamated with the Church Councils of the 
South India United Church to form one organiza- 
tion something like a Synod, and holding its meet- 
ings in two sessions: (a) the Ministerial Session 
composed of the officers of the Church Council, 
ex officio, and all ordained ministers and mission- 
aries whose work is in connection with the South 
India United Church. Its functions are to review 
the work of its ministers, to satisfy itself regard- 
ing their theology and moral character, hear ap- 
peals, discipline pastors and arrange a pastor's 
course of reading; (b) the General Session to be 
constituted as the present District Conference with 
certain ecclesiastical power then held by the 
Church Councils added.* 

The Marathi Mission. There can be no doubt 
in the mind of anyone reading the Minutes and 
Reports of the Marathi Mission of the American 
Board that very conscious efforts have been made 
during the past two decades to turn over an in- 
creasing amount of responsibility to Indian Chris- 
tians. In Chapter III we described the formation 
of the General and Local Aikyas to which ecclesias- 
tical functions had to a large extent devolved. On 
the administrative side, there has been very little 
legislation looking toward the performance of the 
functions of the Mission by these Church Unions. 
Practically all of their definite effort at administra- 
tive devolution is of the Mission-centric type. Two 
outstanding lines of devolution have engaged the 
thought and experimentation of the Marathi Mis- 
sion: (a) the placing of responsible Mission work 

•Minutes of the District Conference, January 13th, 191 5. 



238 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

(viz., schools and districts) in the largely inde- 
pendent management of individuals or committees ; 
(b) the introduction of Indians for training and 
counsel to a share in the administrative and legis- 
lative functions of the Mission. 

Indians in Charge of Districts. The first type 
of devolution — giving posts of responsibility in 
Mission work to Indians — has to a marked extent 
characterized the Marathi Mission during the past 
twenty-five years. It is perfectly plain that their 
policy has been to place responsibility on the In- 
dian Christians whenever their fitness made this 
possible. One of their Mission "Regulations" 
reads : "It is very desirable to study how to place 
more and more responsibility on Indian Christians, 
in order to give more time to missionaries for other 
work." (8.2) In asking in 1897 for a Deputation 
to be sent to India one of the five points mentioned 
for consideration was "the amount of responsibility 
to be placed on Indian Agents." (2.8) The Mis- 
sion has had a succession of able and devoted In- 
dian workers, both men and women, who have 
borne responsibility well, so that it has been possible 
for them to carry out their purpose in several dif- 
ferent ways. 

In 1892 two districts were placed each under 
the charge of an Indian leader, and the work was 
organized as a "Branch" of the Mission with a 
Constitution and By-laws of its own. The rela- 
tion of this Branch to the Marathi Mission was, 
in general, the same as that of the Mission to the 
Prudential Committee in America. (2.9) 

Other instances of entrusting large districts to 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 239 

Indians may be found in those earlier years. (4.8) 
But especially during the last twelve years do the 
Minutes and Reports of the Mission show in- 
stances where four or five well-trained, educated 
Indian workers have been in charge of Districts, 
(1.9) sometimes with twenty men under them 
(2.12), sometimes taking the place of a missionary 
on furlough (4.9), and frequently accountable, as 
any missionary would be, not to an individual, but 
to the Mission as a whole. (16.7) The result of 
experience in permitting such men to carry on the 
work of the Mission with practically as much free- 
dom and responsibility as a missionary was formu- 
lated in 1909 in the declaration that 

"it shall be our policy that, of paid Indian Christian 
fellow-workers, those who are most advanced in educa- 
tion and capacity shall have their relations directly 
with the Mission as a whole and shall not be con- 
sidered subordinates to individual missionaries." (2.14) 

In 1904 one district was placed in the hands of 
a committee chosen by the Indian workers to whom 
were referred most of the details of the working of 
the district, and the missionary in charge felt that 
its advice was worth a great deal in the proper 
management of the district. (4-n) 

In 1912 a Special Committee of the Mission 
could report that in almost every district there 
were Indian leaders with the actual position or at 
least with many of the responsibilities of assistant 
missionaries. The report definitely stated that the 
Mission was looking forward to a steady increase 
in the dignity and salary of these central positions. 

(2.15) 



240 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

Devolution in Educational Work. Not only 
have Districts been placed in the hands of Indians, 
but isolated instances are found of entrusting 
committees of Indians with definite school respon- 
sibility. In 1892 the Mission asked the Christian 
teachers of one of the High Schools to form a 
committee and to assume largely the responsibility 
that had fallen upon the Principal of the School. 
(2.23) Of much greater actual significance was 
the important step taken by the Joint Sessions in 
1910 in placing all the school and other work in 
one district in the hands of a committee of four 
Indians with a missionary and his wife as advisory 
members. This committee was given responsibility 
for raising funds; for expending the Mission's 
appropriation for that district, the Government 
grant and other funds. (4.12) This arrangement 
worked so well that the next year another district 
was similarly placed under a committee of five 
Indians with a missionary Counsellor. (2.25) 

Missionary Counsellor. It will be noticed that 
in the case of the last two committees, each had 
a missionary "Counsellor" appointed. The same 
practice had been adopted in the case of certain 
young men who had been educated in America, 
and to whom the charge of responsible work had 
been given. It was felt that their status should 
be different from that of the ordinary agent who 
comes under the control of an individual mis- 
sionary. For such cases the following general 
principle was passed: 

"The Marathi Mission earnestly desires to make 
Indian Christian leaders feel that they shall have an 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 241 

honorable place as fellow-workers in this Mission. 
Those who are deemed worthy of having their relation 
with the Mission direct shall not be subordinate to 
individual missionaries. Their plans and work like 
that of foreign missionaries shall be decided by the 
Mission and by the Station with which they are con- 
nected. Their pecuniary relations, like those of foreign 
missionaries, shall be with the Mission Treasurer and 
Finance Committee. Newly arrived foreign mission- 
aries have a senior missionary appointed as a coun- 
sellor; so Indian Christian fellow-workers whose rela- 
tions are with the Mission direct shall have an accept- 
able missionary counsellor for five years to aid them." 
(2.26) 

A second type of devolution which stands out 
in the Marathi Mission is the introduction of In- 
dians into the counsels of the annual Mission 
meeting. At first individuals were made consulta- 
tive members ; later Joint Conferences with Indians 
were arranged. These in their more perfected 
form still exist under the name of Joint Sessions. 
In 1889 a motion was passed that one agent from 
each mission district and a few other leading In- 
dian Christians be invited to meet with the Mission 
in one or more of its sessions, to give their opinion 
in the consideration of the work of the Mission 
agents, and other matters in which their opinion 
might be helpful. (2.16) This plan was never car- 
ried out systematically and had to wait twenty 
years to be organized in practical form. One In- 
dian sat as consultative member in the Mission in 
1892 and a second was added in 1896. (2.17) 

In 1905 as a result of a growing sense of need 
for consultation with the best Indian leaders, the 
Mission resolved to hold an Annual Conference, 



242 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

of which all the following would be ex officio mem- 
bers, missionaries, Indian Christian leaders in in- 
dependent charge of important work, the President 
and Secretary of the Church Union, three pastors 
of certain named churches, and also by choice of 
the Mission certain leading Christians who were 
not Mission agents. This Conference was to be 
advisory to various Christian organizations. This 
Conference met for the first time in 1906 and was 
the means of making suggestions both to the Mis- 
sion and to the Church Union, and a constitution 
was drafted for it. (2.18) 

Joint Sessions. A further step in the develop- 
ment of plans for introducing Indian counsel into 
the administration of Mission work came in 1910 
when a still more definite plan was introduced 
called the "jfahrt Sessions." Two or more sessions 
of the Mission were annually held in which Indian 
representatives have full powers of discussion, 
making motions and voting with the missionaries. 
Of the ten Indian representatives the Mission chose 
four while the rest were selected by the local 
Church Unions or Indian workers. A distinct ef- 
fort was made to secure the representation of in- 
telligent layman not employed by the Mission. In 
1912 the selection of all delegates was left to the 
Indian Church Unions or other bodies from which 
they came. In April, 1914, three Indian ladies 
were amongst the nine delegates. (2.19) 

These Sessions have been pronounced profitable 
and helpful both to Indians and Americans, and 
several important measures have been debated and 
carried through in them, such as giving over certain 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION MS 

districts to Indian workers, the rates of pay for 
teachers, a Provident Fund, etc. Such subjects 
as the following have been taken up: petitions, 
employment or dismissal of agents, church prob- 
lems, educational problems (such as parents' 
responsibilities and rights, proper fees, etc.) evan- 
gelistic work, — in fact any subject except personal 
matters affecting foreign missionaries. (2.21) 

After several years of trial the Mission in 
October, 19 14, adopted a Constitution for the Joint 
Sessions. The objects, as stated, were that Indian 
Christian leader shall take a larger and larger part 
in considering and settling questions affecting the 
work of the Mission and the development of 
Christ's Kingdom; and that these Indian leaders 
may powerfully influence their Christian com- 
munity. The members of the Joint Sessions shall 
be all the members of the American Marathi Mis- 
sion; representatives annually chosen for member- 
ship by Indian Christian organizations connected 
with this Mission, viz., two members from the 
General Church Union; one member from each 
District Union ; Indian Superintendents and Assist- 
ant Superintendents of Mission districts; one rep- 
resentative of the Bombay Church; and additional 
Indian Christian leaders selected annually by the 
Mission. All members, American and Indian, shall 
have equal rights of discussion and vote. A meet- 
ing shall be held annually in connection with the 
autumn meeting of the Mission. (2.22) 

Indians on Mission Committees. In 1914 the 
Mission resolved that its educational Committee 
should have on it four Indians as well as five mis- 



244 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

sionaries, and that it should meet at the same time 
as the Mission and as much oftener as was neces- 
sary. (2.22) A very significant step was taken in 
April 1 9 14, appointing a Committee of five Indian 
ministers, one Indian layman and four missionaries 
"to consider the relation of the Indian Church and 
Indian Christian leaders to the Mission with a view 
to a larger gradual devolution of responsibility 
from foreign to Indian co-workers." (2.1 1) 

Station Conferences. One of the regulations of 
the Marathi Mission declares that it is very desir- 
able in every station to have a committee consist- 
ing of missionaries and Indian Christians, both to 
plan for work and to raise and use moneys ; but it 
is to be definitely understood that the appropria- 
tions of the Board are still in the hands of the mis- 
sionaries. (8.2) The custom of holding such 
Station Conferences has grown up within the past 
few years. One missionary writing in 1912 of such 
a Conference says: 

"Hitherto it has considered only matters of general 
interest to the progress of the country and its resolu- 
tions, few in number, have not been binding. It is 
felt now, however, that the body should have more 
authority, and it looks as if this would be brought 
about and therefore the efficiency of the organization 
increased. ,, (1.11) 

3. The American Baptist Mission Society. 

Indian Agents. While, as was seen in Chapter 
V, no Indians are appointed directly by the Board, 
an average of about ten Indian workers per mis- 
sionary is employed on the field. In the days before 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 245 

1859 when i there were still organized Missions 
under the Baptist Society higher Indian agents 
were employed by the Mission as such. This was 
made a definite Regulation of the Board of 
Managers as early as 1836 directing that no one 
should be reported as an assistant of the Mission 
who had not been examined and approved by the 
Mission, and that "all who are employed as as- 
sistants shall be distinctly apprised that they are 
in the service of the Board and accountable thereto 
for the faithful discharge of their duties." (46.9) 

The Baptist Deputation to Burma in 1853 in 
advising the Mission took it "for granted that an 
assistant's appointment would be made by the Mis- 
sion with which he is connected and not by an 
individual of the Mission," and declared that the 
general supervision of Indian Assistants should 
be exercised by the Mission. (46.11) But Regula- 
tions and Deputations cannot always instill prac- 
tices which, however educatively wise, do not easily 
spring from actual conditions. We get an interest- 
ing side light on how centric missionaries remained 
in the system, even under such guidance, by glanc- 
ing at the Mission literature of that time. For 
example, a prominent Burman missionary (in that 
long discussion from 1855-59 as to the relation of 
Baptist missionaries to the home Society) met the 
arguments of those who objected to the exercise 
of home authority as ecclesiastically wrong, by 
saying : 

"These same men, however, send out native minis- 
ters to preach without consulting their own missionary 
associates — they hold those whom they thus send in 



246 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

the relation of 'employees' — they fix their salaries, 
direct them where to labor, what kind of labor to 
perform, as preaching, teaching school, or both; and 
dismiss them for unfaithfulness or sin. . . . Did it 
ever once occur to them that the native preacher might 
feel himself degraded by this relation to the foreign 
missionary? Did it ever occur to them that it would 
not be too much to concede to the native preacher in 
their employ an equal voice with themselves as to what 
he should do and where he should labor ?" (46.8) 

All the more has the individual missionary been 
centric in the administration of the work done by 
the Indian agents since the abolishment of the 
Missions. He it is who employs and dismisses men. 

Indians in Charge of Stations. The Executive 
Committee of the Society, especially during the last 
decade, has been emphasizing the advisability of 
transfer of more responsibility to Indians. The 
following resolution passed by the Executive Com- 
mittee in 1908 is typical of many: "Resolved that 
the Conference (Telegu) shall be apprised of the 
vital importance and necessity attached by the Com- 
mittee to definite, practical efforts in the transfer 
of larger responsibilities to the native body." (21.5) 

Amongst their specific suggestions to the Telegu 
Mission one was that during the furlough of mis- 
sionaries Indians should be placed in control of 
Indians. (24.5) The Telegu Mission Conference 
voted that in its opinion "the time had not come 
when this course could be safely pursued in this 
mission/' (28.1) With reference to this decision 
the home authorities voted: 

"That the Executive Committee desire to emphasize 
their sense of the vital importance of the policy indi- 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 247 

ated and the wisdom of planning in anticipation of 
approaching furloughs for the development of groups 
of native brethren at the principal stations — with whom 
responsibility for conduct of the work with such over- 
sight as a missionary can give in occasional visits, may 
be left." (21.4) 

The reply given by the Telegu Conference in 
1907 deserves careful consideration, both from their 
judgment as to conditions in their field and as to 
the principles involved in this particular type of 
devolution. We therefore give it in full as follows : 

"Native Assistants in charge of Stations. This ques- 
tion was presented as having vital relation to the de- 
velopment of the church and the Christian community. 
Every missionary in charge of a station gave his opinion 
on the subject. Only one thinks that native assistants 
may be put in charge of stations as a temporary measure 
under the supervision of a neighboring missionary. The 
entire remaining number are opposed to such a measure. 
The reasons given may be classified as follows: 

1. Lack of qualifications. The work of a mission 
station covers a wide range of activities, such as the 
careful expenditure and accurate accounting for sums 
of money, large from the Indian point of view; the 
exercise of some measure of authority over those re- 
ceiving mission pay; the leadership of evangelistic cam- 
paigns; the planning of Christian work among tens 
of thousands of population; the oversight of educa- 
tional work which often taxes experienced missionaries ; 
and multitudinous other burdens which call for care- 
fulness, impartiality, leadership and judgment, to an 
extent that is not yet to be found among our Chris- 
tians. With important churches searching for pastors 
who can successfully manage the affairs of the indi- 
vidual churches, and with a very limited number of 
such men available, it is useless at present to think of 
finding men to take charge of mission stations. 



248 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

2. Temptations. The strength and insidiousness of 
these temptations can scarcely be realized by one not 
personally acquainted with Indian life. The ones to 
which special attention is called in the various reports 
are: (a) Pride. This has destroyed the usefulness 
of many an Indian Brother who has been given a much 
less position, (b) Love of authority, and partial and 
arbitrary use of authority, (c) Jealousy and lack of 
respect on the part of others, (d) Misuse of money. 
This last is one of the most serious of the temptations 
named. The matter of guarding and administering 
the small amounts coming into the hands of church 
treasurers is one of the greatest problems of detail 
in the organization of Telegu churches. What then 
would be the result where large amounts are involved? 
There is usually no intention of misappropriation of 
funds, at least at first. The temptation is to invest 
trust funds for personal ends. Not only does the one 
in charge have to meet this temptation within him- 
self, but the demands for loans, advances, and special 
concessions would be so incessant and imperative that 
no ordinary man could stand against them. Moreover 
these demands would by no means be limited to 
Christians. Non-Christian men of influence and au- 
thority would demand considerations in such a way 
that the one in charge of the funds would scarcely 
escape. This matter makes the severest test of a mis- 
sionary's stamini, and it would be little less than 
criminal to put the Indian brethren into such tempta- 
tions. 

3. Some of the missionaries have put this question 
to leaders in the native Church, men who would be the 
first ones considered for such positions, and the answer 
in every case has been most emphatic that none of 
them would care to undertake such burdens, and that 
the workers and Christians in any field would object 
to having one of their number placed in the position 
of missionary over them. 

4. The above objections are those which time might 
remove, but the most emphatic objections are to the 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 249 

effect that the plan of native agents in charge of sta- 
tions presents a wrong ideal, and is something which 
should not be considered an object to be attained. One 
says: We are not here to train missionaries. Pastors, 
evangelists and teachers, and missionaries sent and 
supported by their own people is what we should aim 
at.' Another says: 'When our Christians have 
learned to run their own churches, and to manage 
properly the work they already have in hand, then 
we can talk about stations. The very existence of 
stations does not seem normal to me. When the 
Christians can do the work there will be no mission- 
aries and no stations. In the meantime we can mag- 
nify the native assistant by putting more responsibility 
on him in the form of church work.' 5> (26.5) 

Station Committees. In general the way in 
which funds may be expended for evangelistic 
work is left to the individual missionary, and in 
general no formally organized plans have been 
made for sharing this responsibility with the 
Telegus, although of course no action seriously 
affecting them is taken without informal consulta- 
tion. However, in one Station a plan was adopted 
in 1907 that has attracted some attention and which 
there is a tendency to follow. A constitution was 
adopted for the "Nellore Station Committee/' Its 
members were missionaries, wives and appointees of 
the Women's Society and other associate workers 
who should be elected by the unanimous vote of 
the committee. Its object was consultation in all 
matters pertaining to the work in the Nellore field. 

(32.1) 
Board of Arbitration. Until very recently the 

individual missionary was the final authority (ex- 
cept as advised by his fellow-missionaries) in all 



250 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

matters connected with the employment and dis- 
missal of agents. This power has often been the 
source of trouble and of a sense of injustice on 
the part of Indians. In 191 1 the Telegu Baptist 
Conference passed the following resolutions : 

"Voted ; that a Panchayat be constituted for the pur- 
pose of considering differences that may arise between 
our Indian brethren and the missionaries or the Mis- 
sion or the Board, and which cannot properly be 
brought before the Reference Committee, the church, 
or any other existing body; that it shall consist of 
three missionaries appointed by the Conference and 
two Indian brethren appointed by the Telegu Con- 
vention; that the Panchayat take into consideration 
any such matter committed to it by any missionary 
or Indian Christian or worker, or by the Conference, 
or Reference Committee, or the Board of Managers. 
The Board shall also have the right to consult the 
missionary members in matters that affect the mis- 
sionaries alone." (26.4) 

As a matter of fact only one case was brought 
before this Board in 1912, and only one case in 
191 3, but to the extent that it is needed and used 
it gives to Indians a share in deciding appeals that 
may be made. 

The Assam Mission in 191 1 followed the example 
of the Telegu Mission in creating such a Board, 
but in their Minutes of 1913 we find that the 
opinion of their Conference by vote was "that a 
Committee on Adjudication is not needed." (30.1) 
The Burman Mission in 191 3 met the same ques- 
tion by resolving that "differences between a 
native brother or native church and a missionary 
may be referred to the Reference Committee" of 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 251 

the Mission (in which there is no Burman). (29.1) 
All these actions show a tendency to take the point 
of view and rights of Indians more into con- 
sideration and are steps in that slow process of 
mental and institutional adjustment which is 
summed up in the word devolution. 

Devolution in Educational Work. While there 
is no definite agreement between the Mission and 
the Church, yet Telegus are represented at present 
on the Educational Council of the Telegu field. 
The functions of this body include such things as 
the direction of all secondary schools of the Mis- 
sion and training institutions; the employing and 
dismissing of teachers, fixing grades of salary, 
adopting courses of study, selection of text books, 
prescribing fees, etc. Two of the nine members 
are nominated by the Telegu Baptist Convention 
(native) and the nominations are confirmed by the 
Board of Managers in America. 

In Burma the Mission has been relieved of a 
far larger burden in education than has been pos- 
sible amongst the Telegus. The Educational Com- 
mission of the American Baptist Burman Mission 
in 1908 reported that the Karen village schools are 
entirely supported by the people themselves, with 
the aid of the Government grants, and are also 
entirely controlled by the people themselves under 
the supervision of the Educational Department. 
The relation of the missionary to these schools is 
nominal, or at most advisory. The large Karen 
town schools are in most cases supported by the 
people. Missionaries being superintendents of 
these schools have a large voice in determining 



252 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

their policy; but the final word in regard to these 
schools also rests with the people. Village schools 
are closely related to the churches, when there is 
any church in the village, and there is a decided 
preponderance of opinion in the Mission that the 
relation should be organic wherever practicable. 
In the Karen department, this is generally the case ; 
but in the Burman department, many of the most 
experienced missionaries regard such organic con- 
nection as impracticable. (31.1) 

Attitude of the Executive Committee. The 
Executive Committee of the American Baptist Mis- 
sion Society have encouraged their missionaries by 
many actions and pronouncements of opinion in 
taking aggressive steps to share reponsibility to a 
greater extent with Indians. This is seen in the 
suggestion made by the Executive Committee to 
the Burman Mission Conference in 1913, viz., that 
they consider the advisability of adding native 
members to the committee in charge of general 
evangelistic work, or the appointment by the Bap- 
tist Convention of a Committee who might co- 
operate with the Evangelistic Committee of the 
Mission Conference. (25.1) 

A very clear statement of principle with refer- 
ence to whether the interests of the Mission or of 
the indigenous bodies should be determinative in 
the Mission policy was made by the Board of 
Managers to the Telegu Mission in 1913. Dis- 
cussing the problem as to whether an expansive 
or intensive program would prove best, the Board 
said that even if its income could be geometrically 
multiplied so as to keep up with the growing needs 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 253 

on the field such expansion might not be the 
wisest solution. "A true consideration of the inter- 
ests of the people for whom missionary work is 
conducted as well as of those who support the 
work would seem to indicate that the available 
resources ought to be so invested that they will 
multiply themselves by creating, setting in motion 
and directing indigenous forces which in the end 
will prove far more effective for the accomplish- 
ment of the real task than an indefinite increase 
of agencies from without. ,, (24.4) 
■ 

4. The Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. 

Limited Transfer of Work to Presbytery in 
Panjab Mission. We have seen in Chapter IV 
that from 1872 on for over twenty years there was 
a definite effort being made in the Panjab Mission 
to dissolve the Mission and have all its functions 
taken over by the Presbytery. Although this ex- 
treme measure failed to be accomplished, the 
tendency has continued ever since, and is shown in 
occasional, isolated legislation apparently apart 
from any large thoroughgoing policy of devolution. 

One of the first examples of this tendency ap- 
pears in 1887. In discussing a docket item,— "Will 
the Mission decide what churches within its bounds 
shall receive aid from the Board ?"— the Mission 
resolved to refer the matter to the Presbyteries. 
This detail however came to nothing as the Pres- 
byteries took no notice of it. (52.13) 

The next year (1888) the docket item— "Shall 
the location of native preachers employed by the 



254 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

Mission be under the charge of Presbyteries ?" — 
was answered in the negative. (52.14) 

The most definite step that the Mission has 
taken in the way of turning over its responsibility 
to the Presbytery is the following action of 1908: 

"All District-workers in Class IV are to be em- 
ployed in the Mission only on being recommended by 
the Presbytery. An individual Missionary may employ 
a man on trial, but in order that the appointment may 
be confirmed by the Mission the man thus employed 
should be placed under the care of the Presbytery at 
its next meeting. The Presbyteries are responsible 
for the oversight of all evangelistic agents in the dis- 
tricts, working within their respective bounds in the 
matter of their faithfulness and efficiency and are 
to make such representations to the Mission as they 
may at any time deem fit. Missionaries in charge of 
districts may suspend evangelistic agents and during 
the time of their suspension they shall be entitled to 
half pay for a period of not less than two months. 
But the matter must be presented to Presbytery and 
to the Mission at the first regular opportunity. If 
the suspension be sustained by either Presbytery or 
the Mission the employee shall be entitled to the back 
pay due him. When a man has been suspended or 
dismissed no Missionary or Committee shall have 
authority to re-employ him in Mission service without 
the sanction of Presbytery and Mission." (52.15) 

This involved the attendance of Mission Agents at 
Presbytery. In consenting to meet the traveling 
expenses of such Agents, the Board of Foreign 
Missions suggested to the Mission "the desirability 
of so guarding such expenditure as not to en- 
courage dependence upon the Mission and to dis- 
courage the growth of self-support in the Native 
Church." (49.9) In 1910 the two Presbyteries 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 255 

within the bounds of the Mission requested to have 
"a share in recommending to the Mission in- 
crease of salaries for Mission employees/' The 
Mission resolved that it did "not wish to bind itself 
to consult Presbyteries" in this regard. (52.16) 
Further adjustments have had to be made (52.17) 
and in practice the plan seems to lack life and real- 
ity. It can only be considered as partial and on 
trial. 

Indians taken into Consultative Relations 
with Mission. In 1906 the Pan jab Mission re- 
organized its work under four Departments or 
Boards for District Work, Boys' Schools, Girls' 
Schools and Medical Work respectively. (52.18) 
The District Work Committee was the first to ask 
that Indian fellow- workers join with them in their 
deliberations. The Committee report of 1908 testi- 
fies as follows: 

" Among the many benefits which have resulted from 
the establishment of the District Work Committee, 
by no means the least is this, that it is helping toward 
a unification of plans and efforts on the part of Mis- 
sionaries and Indian workers, bringing them into 
closer touch with each other, so that there shall be no 
longer so many isolated workers scattered over a large 
field, but an aggressive and effective company, working 
hand in hand, and shoulder to shoulder. We have 
learned that there are many things which we can 
teach one another, help one another, inspire one 
another; that the most effectual work is team-work, 
and that it is by uniting our efforts, concentrating them 
all upon one and the same object, that we can accom- 
plish most." (52.19) 

Five years later, on the basis of this experience, 
and after the Allahabad Conference of the three 



256 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

Presbyterian Missions (to which reference is made 
at the end of this Chapter), the Mission resolved 
that to each Departmental Committee might be 
added selected Indian workers. These workers 
were to be ones "who by reason of their gifts, 
character and qualifications are judged worthy to 
serve on a Committee, and are engaged in work 
under the direction of the Committee." They 
were to be elected by the Mission on nomination 
from a Departmental Committee and were to be 
given the privileges of full membership, including 
the right of voting on all questions, in the Com- 
mittees to which they had been elected. The 
traveling expenses of such Indian members to and 
from the place of meeting must be paid by the 
Institutions or Stations to which they belong. 
(52.21) The same year (1913) seven Indians were 
given such membership in the District Work Com- 
mittee, four in the Boys' School Committee, and 
three in the Girls' School Committee. (52.22) 

Indians in Independent Charge. For many 
years in the Panjab Mission there have been three 
Indians to whom has been given independent charge 
of the districts to which they have been assigned, 
i. e., they report just as do other missionaries to 
the Mission and not to an individual missionary. 
They are given as much freedom in the conduct of 
their work and in the use of their funds as has any 
missionary. But these instances are not part of a 
definite system to which others may appeal. 

Devolution in Education. In the beginning 
teachers, like other Indian agents, were under the 
control of individual missionaries. The first step 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 257 

toward their more adequate recognition has always 
been to make their appointment or dismissal depend 
on the will of the Mission rather than on that of 
an individual. In 1898 the Pan jab Mission resolved 
that it alone should have the authority to increase 
or diminish salaries of teachers and recognized the 
right of appeal in case it was felt that any individ- 
ual missionary had violated any of the rights of 
an Indian teacher. (52.23) Fifteen years later 
arrangements were made that an Indian might have 
a voice in the dismissing body. The resolution was 
that no Christian teacher drawing more than Rs. 
20 per mensem should be dismissed by the Prin- 
cipal or Manager of the School without the sanction 
of the officers of the Boys' Schools Committee, act- 
ing with a Christian Head-master selected by the 
five Head-masters in the service of the Mission. 

(S2.25) 

In 1909 the principle was definitely enunciated 
that in any case where desirable in the eyes of the 
Mission, the entire management of any High 
School be put into the hands of the Head-master 
who will then become the Manager and correspon- 
dent of the School and be directly responsible to 
the Mission. (52.24) This has never been carried 
out. 

Limited Transfer of Work to the Presbytery in 
the North India Mission. In 1901 the North India 
Mission took action providing for joint superintend- 
ence of evangelistic Agents, the Presbytery being 
made responsible for the oversight of such Agents in 
the matter of their faithfulness and efficiency and 
the Mission retaining oversight in other regards. The 



258 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

Mission was also to defray the expenses of such 
Agents to meetings of Presbytery when required. 
The Board of Foreign Missions in New York al- 
lowed this, but expressed some concern inasmuch 
as a distinction was introduced between men and 
women employed as evangelists. Moreover they 
felt that divided responsibility might lead to inef- 
ficiency, and it seemed to them doubtful wisdom to 
increase the authority of the Indian Church without 
a compensating increase of responsibility in self- 
support. (49.11) 

In 1907 the North India Mission asked the Pres- 
byteries to examine candidates for the Scripture 
Reader Grade "on the degree of secular knowledge 
of the candidate in addition to their report on 
character and Scripture knowledge, and that ex- 
ceptions to the rule on this account rest with the 
Mission." It was also arranged that the Presby- 
teries should examine workers every second year, 
instead of every year, and that written reports 
should be given for the intervening years. (53.1) 

Attempt to Arrange for Indians in Charge of 
Districts. The North India Mission has along with 
practically all other Missions felt the need of mak- 
ing some provision for the more highly trained and 
qualified Indian worker. In 1909 they appointed 
a committee to prepare a plan "with reference to 
opening the way for placing Indian graduate evan- 
gelists in charge of districts." As a result the 
Board was urged to grant $3250 for three houses 
in the district. 

"We urge these estimates because we anticipate ad- 
ditional Indian missionaries of high standard. Educated 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 259 

Indians hesitate to enter Mission service in the evan- 
gelistic class because they do not see any likelihood 
of being put in independent charge of work because 
they are not needed in the central Stations and because 
there are no available houses in the district suitable as 
residences. We are convinced that Indian evangelists 
should after due testing be put in charge of districts or 
sections thereof. If we begin by providing houses 
for such men in special fields, we believe that this 
foresight will be used as one of the means for inducing 
such men to enter Christian service under the Mission." 
(53.2) 

The Western India Mission. The sources avail- 
able reveal almost no attempts at devolution in the 
Western India Mission until the Conference with 
the Board Secretary in 1913, to which attention 
is soon to be called. We find here and there an 
isolated resolution; for example, in 1897 the Mis- 
sion adopted rules requiring that workers in the 
various grades and classes should be examined by 
a committee of Presbytery in Biblical and Theologi- 
cal subjects, general experience in preaching and 
ability to preach. (54.2) About the same time 
some very good principles were laid down on self- 
support (54.3), but these do not come within the 
scope of this study. Time and strength do not ap- 
pear to have been given to problems of devolution. 

In their separate Conference with the Board's 
Secretary in 1912 resolutions were passed bearing 
upon the general subject of adjustment of relations 
between Mission and Church. Several of these 
have already been noticed. One which bears on 
the problem of this Chapter reads: 

"That while it would not be wise for the Indian 



260 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

brethren to be full members of the Mission, it might 
well be considered if they could not be brought into 
some advisory and consultative relation to the Mis- 
sion, that they might be strengthened by feeling that 
the Mission was dependent upon them." (68.2) 

They also had a share in the larger Conference 
which is now to be considered. 

Recommendations Resulting from the Confer- 
ence at Allahabad. In the Conference of the three 
Presbyterian Missions in India in February, 1913, 
a very definite set of proposals was drawn up con- 
stituting more of a policy with reference to the 
subject of devolution than any of the Presbyterian 
Missions had heretofore had. We have already 
considered three of these resolutions. The others 
pertain to the subject of this Chapter. 

The following resolution names a definite attain- 
ment on the part of the Church upon the reach- 
ing of which the Mission will turn over to the 
Presbytery the supervision of evangelistic work. It 
reads : 

"The Presbytery should supervise the evangelistic 
work within its bounds without control of the mission 
or council, provided half the evangelistic force and 
three-fourths of the pastors are supported by the 
churches of the Presbytery, subject to the conditions 
of grant-in-aid which the mission, Council or Board 
may lay down." (69.3) 

Now this undoubtedly provides a goal toward 
which the Church may work, but looking at the 
conditions it must be considered a very distant one. 
When after three-quarters of a century's work in 
their oldest Mission only six churches out of 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 261 

twenty-six are self-supporting the setting of the 
standard at three-fourths will not mean any very 
rapid application of this rule unless there is an 
unusual response to the call to self-support. At 
present the first condition also is far from being 
realized. (55.1) In the meantime the co-operation 
of Presbyteries in the work of the Mission is 
limited to the actions of the Western India, North 
India and Panjab Missions in 1897, 1901 and 1908 
respectively. 

We give the second set of resolutions of this 
Conference in full. It will be noticed that they are 
Mission-centric. 

"As a measure looking toward the drawing into the 
management and control of the work of our Missions 
and Church the sympathy and practical help of the 
stronger and more devoted of the members of the 
Indian Christian community, we suggest the adoption 
of the following plan: 

(1) Let each Mission organize itself into depart- 
ments or boards such as, one for district work, one 
for boys' schools, one for girls' schools, another for 
medical work, etc., after the method now in more or 
less successful operation in the Panjab Mission. 

(2) On these boards or departments there should be 
appointed selected Indian workers, and to them should 
be given all the privileges of full membership. 

In this capacity these brethren will be in a position 
to become familiar with the work of administration, 
giving meanwhile most valuable aid. 

We believe this plan will result in the positive prepa- 
ration of a considerable number of Indian brethren for 
the time when the pastoral, evangelistic and other work 
of the Missions may be taken over in whole or in part 
by the several Presbyteries of our Church in India." 

(69.3) 



262 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

As we have seen, the Pan jab Mission has already 
put these resolutions into practice by adding In- 
dians to three of their four Boards. 

The present situation, the ends desired, as well 
as the earnest spirit in which the Missions faced 
their problem, is indicated in the explanatory state- 
ment affixed to the complete set of resolutions. 

"We believe that acceptance by the Board of the 
principles and policy thus outlined, and their sym- 
pathetic application by the Missions and Council will 
more and more encourage young men of education and 
spiritual gifts to enter the ministry and prepare them 
for leadership in the Church. We recognize that there 
are difficulties in transferring the evangelistic work 
carried on by the Mission to the Presbyteries. One is 
that many of the ministers and elders are on the evan- 
gelistic staff of the Mission. To transfer the evangel- 
istic grant to a Presbytery whose members draw their 
salaries from this fund, they, as its administrators, 
having power to increase or decrease one another's 
salaries and allowances, would be to create discord and 
divisions. . . . 

"Through the patient and sympathetic application of 
the principles and policy outlined above, the wall of 
distinction between the Indian and foreign labourers 
built largely by the present policy will be broken down 
with the Church. Positions of trust, responsibility and 
honour will, by the proposed policy, be given to the 
members of Presbytery, session and church by their 
fellow-members irrespective of their nationality. The 
diverse gifts of the nationalities in the Church will thus 
find a field for their exercise." . . . (69.3) 

The Point at Which the Board Would Have 
Co-operation Begin. The Board in New York 
prefer that "emphasis should be laid upon having 
the Indian brethren assume their responsibilities 



PLANS OF DEVOLUTION 263 

rather than demand their rights, and that there 
should be joint conferences between the Mission and 
the native Church as to amounts needed for work 
rather than that native pastors should vote in the 
Mission meetings/' (49.13) 

In each of the Board's "Manuals for the Use of 
Missionaries" since 1894, appears the following 
paragraph : 

Each Station in preparing its estimates shall consult 
with the proper agents of the native Church, so as 
to secure its proper share in, and responsibility for, the 
support of all evangelistic and educational work. The 
amount given by the native Church and the amount 
of help asked from the Board shall be clearly stated. 

(51.8) 

The Board's interpretations of this paragraph is 
that there should be consultation with the proper 
agents of the Church in preparing estimates, so 
that they may have a voice in determining the scale 
on which work shall be projected as well as in the 
expenditure of the money after the plans have been 
fixed. (49.12) In their opinion many difficulties 
would be forestalled if the financial relations of the 
Missions and the Churches were to begin as far 
back as the making up of the Station estimates. 

"Where these relations are postponed until the appro- 
priations have been made, the question becomes merely 
a question of the distribution of money from America. 
If, on the other hand, both Mission and Church con- 
sult from the outset on what their common obligations 
are, and determine in advance how much is to be pro- 
vided by each, it will be easier to develop the sense of 
responsibility in the native Church and to have a laud- 
able desire for authority balanced by the sobering 
influence of duty." (70) 



VII 
CONCLUSION 

WE have surveyed but the ecclesiastical and 
administrative aspects of devolution. 
The complex and exceedingly difficult 
problems of evangelistic and financial devolution 
have scarcely been touched. Furthermore the study 
of even this limited realm has, in general, confined 
itself to the historical consideration of the problems 
involved. The object has not been to lay out the 
course which should be followed in the future. 
There has been, however, the conviction that if the 
past were seen with greater clearness the future 
could be met with greater precision of adjustment; 
that, if each mission drew the lines of adjustment 
between mission and church from the beginning 
of its history to the present, the projection of these 
charted lines into the future would be the easier, 
and that a series of detailed studies such as this 
from each of the six great differentiated mission 
areas of the world would furnish the kind of data 
upon which one small part of the coming science 
of missions could be built. No attempt will be 
made here to summarize the findings of the pre- 
vious Chapters. Several additional observations 
may, however, be given. 

The Complex Nature of a Missionary's 

264 



CONCLUSION 265 

Work. Even from this limited study the con- 
clusion is evident that a missionary's task by 
no means ends with the preaching of the "simple 
Gospel." In the effort to establish a self- 
governing, self-supporting, self-propagating, in- 
digenous Church he faces one of the most difficult 
problems in race psychology and in race edu- 
cation as well as in the functional evaluation of 
religion. His is a task which justifies and demands 
specialized equipment. More and more the true suc- 
cess of a missionary in his individual and collective 
capacity will come to be judged by the degree in 
which he has made himself and his Mission dis- 
pensable. For those whose temperaments are fitted 
to the newer conditions arising in mission fields, and 
who with a teacher's abandon can lose themselves in 
assisting the self-realization of individual and of 
Church, there is sure to come with deepening im- 
pressiveness and clearness the significance of the 
missionary task. 

Defect in Execution Rather than in Ideal. One 
is impressed after the perusal of the literature from 
which this study has been made with the fact that 
many of the ideals and principles still being urged 
were enunciated with clearness and precision a 
half century ago. In official statements, in Deputa- 
tions, in the long series of Mission Conferences one 
finds reiterated decade after decade, principles 
which many might suppose to have developed only 
in modern times. From such a survey as this it 
is evident that there are missions that have through 
a series of years kept before themselves the work- 
ing ideal of an independent, national Church, and 



266 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

who will deem their work unfinished until such 
Churches are firmly established, free to adapt them- 
selves spontaneously to racial points of view and 
tendencies, and as such responsible for entering 
completely and pervasively into their nation's life 
and need. 

But while in four out of five Societies considered 
there has been a fairly clear cut ideal of independ- 
ent daughter Churches, we have seen how falter- 
ingly the ideal realized itself in practice; how 
widely opinion varied as to the fitness of the Indian 
Church for a larger share in self-government, how 
hesitatingly steps have been taken to develop more 
fully the qualities which are essential to proper 
self-government; and how hard it has been for 
missionaries really to dominate policy and methods 
with the aim of creating a self-supporting, self- 
propagating and self-governing Indian Church. Not 
the evolution of the principle but its embodiment 
in practice has proved the difficult thing. Assent 
by vote to an ideal is one thing; altering old insti- 
tutions and actual methods, is another. The mo- 
mentum of the habitual must be reckoned with 
even if the reasonableness of the new ideal is un- 
questioned. 

Lack of Conclusive Thinking. If one ask the 
reason why ideals and principles clearly discerned 
have not been with more certainty embodied in 
actual organization and method, one answer must 
be that there has been a lack of conclusive think- 
ing. For example, no phrase occurs more often in 
articles on this general subject than the one spoken 
in the spirit of John the Baptist — we must de- 



CONCLUSION 267 

crease, and they must increase. All missionaries 
assent to this statement without exception. But 
when it comes to practice lack of imagination, in- 
ability to put one's self in the other's place, the 
neglect to make explicit the implications of that 
phrase, prevent the adequate embodiment of this 
principle. Fine ideals are expressed in resolutions, 
but examination shows that all too often definite 
practical plans of procedure are not indicated by 
which the high ends contemplated are to be se- 
cured. Those outside the Mission, however, can 
judge only by actual practice, and to them this 
may indicate a reluctance on the part of the mis- 
sionary to permit Indians to develop leadership. 
Such a judgment while unjust to the missionary 
may really be just when applied to the policy and 
administration of the system of which the mis- 
sionary is a part. 

The Influence of Church Polity on Mission 
Organization. Another reason why ideals and 
principles when once evolved have been so slowly 
realized in practice lies in the system on which 
mission administration has been organized. Given 
a group of men and women in a foreign land intent 
on the accomplishment of certain ends. How 
should they organize for the accomplishment of 
their purpose? This question has not always been 
settled on its merits. Polities held sacred in ec- 
clesiastical affairs have been carried over into this 
other realm. Organization that was congenial — 
possibly considered as divinely inspired — for the 
Church was by analogy applied to the administra- 
tion of a great enterprise which in general is not 



268 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

ecclesiastical. Thus we have seen how one great 
Society in 1859 abandoned the policy of organizing 
its missionaries into a group the individuals of 
which should be guided by the vote of the majority. 
It was argued that a polity that recognized inde- 
pendence as between one church and another church 
involved also independence as between one mission- 
ary and another missionary on the field. In another 
Mission discussion looking toward the establish- 
ment of a Superintendency or General Secretary- 
ship of a group for purposes of efficiency was 
silenced by cries of "Bishop" or "Pope" — the ap- 
plication of ecclesiastical terms to purely adminis- 
trative and executive offices. Now it is not part of 
this study to decide whether a highly centralized 
system or a highly democratic or independent sys- 
tem is the better when all things are taken into 
consideration. There certainly are many who feel 
that it is sacrilegious to attempt to apply efficiency 
tests to spiritual work; who resent comparisons 
between the way great enterprises outside the 
Church are carried to successful completion and 
the way the work of the Great Commission is being 
wrought out on mission fields. But confining our- 
selves to the single question as to why certain prin- 
ciples of devolution clearly enunciated long ago 
should not have been more fully embodied in actual 
practice, we must find the explanation in part in 
this factor of organization. If, when a resolution 
has been passed it is no one's business to see that 
execution follows, we need not be surprised to 
find that progress is very uneven and uncertain. 
Tendency to Centralization. This study has 



CONCLUSION 269 

shown, however, a distinct tendency in recent years 
to break away from polities which are characteristic 
of the Church as such, and to introduce other 
principles in the administration of purely mission 
work. The Society that abolished "Mission" or- 
ganization in 1859, made a distinct departure from 
its purely individualistic methods by the introduc- 
tion of Mission Conferences and Committees in 
1900, and the very strong recommendation in more 
recent years of the plan of General Superintendents 
for each of its various Missions. The Madura 
(Congregational) and the Arcot (Reformed) Mis- 
sions in their two schemes of devolution have recog- 
nized that the functions of these transitory organi- 
zations are administrative rather than ecclesiastical. 
Considerations of efficiency, rather than analogy 
with Church systems, have led as we have seen to 
a certain amount of centralization in the assign- 
ment of executive functions to the various factors 
in District Conference and Church Council respect- 
ively. The Mission which fifteen years ago stopped 
an effort at superintendency with the cry of "Bish- 
op," two years ago furnished the first Field Sec- 
retary for the three Indian Missions of the Pres- 
byterian Church under a plan by which it is hoped 
that the Missions will be enabled to follow a more 
constructive and definite policy. Still stronger 
examples of this tendency in mission administration 
could be taken from the Missions of these Churches 
in other lands. During the Continuation Committee 
Conferences held in India 191 2-1 3 it was repeatedly 
stated that if this series of discussions was to 
amount to anything more than those of the Decen- 



270 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

nial Conferences previously held, one essential con- 
dition must be met, viz., that some man must be 
set apart whose duty it should be to see that the 
ideals and principles evolved be not straightway 
forgotten in the pressing detail of local work. 
There is evidence then that there is a tendency to 
organize missions from the standpoint of efficiency 
in the special work that is to be done. There is the 
hope that precision of function along with right 
ideals will accelerate the embodiment of those 
ideals — amongst which will be devolution from 
Mission to Church. 

The Indigenous Church as End or Means. The 
discussion of ideals, furthermore, brings out a 
negative result. Even where there has been the 
ideal of independent national Churches we fail to 
find any conclusively worked out policy defining 
whether this independent Church is to be sought 
as a means or as an end. This question is funda- 
mental and upon its answer inevitably depend far- 
reaching differences in practical mission administra- 
tion. Is the aim of foreign missions the evangeliza- 
tion of certain countries, with the organization of 
native Churches as means — perhaps the most im- 
portant means toward that end? Or is the really 
controlling aim the establishment of self-reliant, 
efficient, independent Churches? Historically the 
aim of evangelization has come first; later in the 
process, the aim of the establishment of the Church 
on the Mission Field has developed. Even now if 
a mission in a new field were being opened evan- 
gelization would naturally have to precede, in time, 
Church development; converts would have to be 



CONCLUSION 271 

secured before they could be organized. But it is 
possible to confuse analysis in time with the analysis 
in emphasis. The question is, which of these aims 
should be controlling in shaping policy and method. 
If evangelization of the whole field is the purpose 
then the Church is organized as a means, and 
devolution is a mere matter of adjustment. But if 
the goal is the establishment of self-reliant efficient 
independent Churches then the devolution of powers 
and responsibilities to this growing Church becomes 
in fact controlling. It will mean the unresting self- 
effacement of the true teacher; it will mean the 
indomitable will to see that in very deed and fact 
Mission decreases and Church increases; it will 
mean the long hard road of patience — the patience 
of God. Policy on this question has still to be 
formulated. 

India's Lack of the Spirit of Aggressive In- 
dependence. A consideration of the facts of ec- 
clesiastical devolution reveals no positive evidence 
that any of the five Churches or Societies considered 
have wanted permanently to hold India subject to 
foreign ecclesiastical control. We have seen that 
if the Indian Christians connected with the Ameri- 
can Board and the American Baptist Mission 
Society have not at any time been ecclesiastically 
independent it is because they have not appealed 
to or insisted on principles ingrained in those 
through whom they have been evangelized. The 
official documents of the Reformed Church after 
1863 and of the Presbyterian Church after 1870 
contain many definite declarations of their longing 
for the rise of independent Churches on the Mis- 



272 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

sion Field. There can be no doubt that if a definite 
appeal had been made to them by suitable repre- 
sentatives from their branches in India, independ- 
ence would have been granted. Even in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, which on this question 
has made no definite official declaration to which 
Indian Christians connected with them may appeal, 
history indicates that independence would be 
granted if it were strongly demanded. 

The discontent, therefore, amongst the more edu- 
cated Indians, in so far as it is due to causes aris- 
ing from the West, must be due not to the ideals of 
the home Churches but to the practice of their Mis- 
sions. Indians must, however, from these same 
facts realize that one cause of their condition has 
been the lack of a pervasive spirit of assertive in- 
dependence, which would have at once been honored 
and respected by those whose prayer has been for 
this very thing. 

The Ecclesiastical Relationship of Missionaries. 
As to the ecclesiastical relationship of missionaries 
there has been no unanimity of procedure amongst 
the Societies studied. The missionaries of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church have from the begin- 
ning worked from within the section of their 
Church established in India, and there is no thought 
of any other procedure. The Presbyterian mis- 
sionaries have continued from the beginning to 
work from within the Indian Church ; but there are 
very distinct indications that a change of policy is 
about to manifest itself. The Arcot missionaries 
continue to work from within in the relationship 
of assessors. The Baptists and Congregationalists 



CONCLUSION 273 

have on the whole worked from without; but since 
the formation of the South India United Church 
in 1908 two Missions of the American Board have 
taken over the policy of working from within the 
Indian Church. Therefore as far as actual prac- 
tice is concerned the ecclesiastical relationship of 
missionaries has been predominantly of the intra 
muros type. It is to be noted that any missionary 
in three of the Societies may have full voting 
powers in the Indian Church with which he may 
be connected, but no Indian may be a full member 
of any Mission of these three Societies. This is 
an inconsistency which under the circumstances is 
justified as a temporary measure — but as we have 
seen, as an educational measure, its necessity and 
wisdom are doubted by many. Facts certainly show 
that the intra muros policy, in connection with the 
Presbyterian Church in India, and to a less extent 
in connection with the South India United Church, 
has resulted in an overshadowing of the Indian by 
the missionary — a condition which in the opinion 
of many Indians and missionaries is held to be un- 
warranted. Overshadowing and the premature 
forcing of organization are not necessary results 
of the intra muros policy, but they have tended to 
be its accompaniment in India. 

Comparison of Methods in Administrative 
Devolution. We have seen that each Society is 
making more or less earnest effort at devolution 
in administration. In some Missions and some 
Stations it has yet scarcely more than begun, nor 
is it advancing at the same rate in each Mission 
of any one Society. But the era of definitely 



274 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

organized plans for devolving duties and respon- 
sibilities on the Indian Church has unmistakably 
arrived. Especially since 1900 has this been true. 
Our study has shown that it is by no means in 
the oldest Missions that the development of devo- 
lution has been most pronounced. 

We have seen that (apart from the Methodist 
Episcopal Church which has at no time organized 
its missionaries into "Missions") there is no present 
tendency to give up "Mission" organization. In 
the one case where the decision of the problem of 
the utilization or dissolution of the Mission was 
made with the interests of the Indian Church 
definitely in mind, the result, after twenty years of 
discussion and experiment, has been the continua- 
tion of the organization of foreign missionaries in 
a body by themselves. 

With reference to the other extreme we saw that 
while home Societies have been repeatedly asked by 
missionaries in India to grant full missionary status 
to selected Indians, the home authorities are a unit 
in refusing this request. Experience of a hundred 
years has led to the practically unanimous con- 
viction that it is unwise under any circumstance 
to appoint a native as a missionary of a home 
Board. This is by no means due to any low esti- 
mate of the character and capacities of the people, 
but to convictions that such appointments would 
harm the best interests of the native Church. 

Unless this question is settled on principle and in 
a way that is thoroughly understood and accepted 
by the Indian Church and by the missionaries as 
well as by the home authorities, the way will be 



CONCLUSION 275 

obscured for other plans of devolution. As long 
as missionaries on the field do not see eye to eye 
with the authorities at home in this regard we will 
continue to find such Mission-centric types of 
devolution as were described in Chapter VI. These 
partial admissions of Indians to Mission delibera- 
tions only bring more discontent because case after 
case arises in which it is plain that the only reason 
for not giving the Indian full power is just because 
he is an Indian. It will be increasingly true that 
self-respecting Indians will not indure that young 
missionaries, fresh from abroad without Indian 
experience, shall be placed in authority over In- 
dian members of large experience. Moreover, the 
problem is not solved by providing in the Mission 
a few places of high responsibility for a few iso- 
lated, though well-trained, Indian workers. The 
whole mass needs to have the burden of the work 
brought home to it. It is a question whether any 
Mission-centric policy can do this. 

But Chapter VI gave two examples of another 
solution. In each case both Mission and Church 
retained their identity and an intermediate, transi- 
tional organization was developed — the Indian 
Church Council and the District Conference, 
respectively. In these systems the center of gravity 
of the thought-life is really Indian, and yet there 
are very adequate safeguards, but with definite 
provision for devolution to full Indian control. By 
the old system, the Indian Agent was first under an 
individual missionary ; in course of time a stage was 
reached when each Mission related Indian Agents 
to itself; the next step in such a development 



276 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

would naturally be for the Indian Agent to be re- 
lated to the Society in America as is the missionary 
himself. Under the transitional schemes the Indian 
Agent is related to a Church Board and the next 
step must bring him into relation to the Church it- 
self. Other advantages felt to arise from these 
two plans of devolution have been given in connec- 
tion with their description. 

Before deciding whether any one of the plans 
described in Chapter VI is best for the given situa- 
tion one would want a longer base line from which 
to judge than has been drawn in this study. One 
ought to know for purposes of comparison and 
suggestion the complicated and lengthy history of 
the adjustment of co-operation between the Japan- 
ese Churches and the various Missions, one would 
want to study the plans developed in Northern 
China by the Methodists, at Shantung by the 
Presbyterians, in the North China Mission of the 
American Board, to mention only a few of the 
many schemes with which experiment is being made. 
No one plan will do for all the world, but the ex- 
perience of all the world should be brought to 
bear upon each of the major problems that must 
rise in any field. Such combined knowledge and 
experience should enable one to anticipate rather 
than falteringly follow the needs as they arise. 

Devolution Fundamentally a Problem in Edu- 
cation. If in conclusion two words may be allowed 
as the personal convictions of the writer, the first 
would be this : The most satisfying results in devo- 
lution will come from the patient, thoroughgoing, 
persistent application to each concrete situation of 



CONCLUSION 277 

the psychological laws of education. There is no 
rule-of-thumb generalization that is possible. Mere 
copying of methods used elsewhere is as unwise in 
the realm of racial education as in that of individual 
education. China, Korea, Japan, India— each is a 
different personality and the individuality of each 
must be respected. Even within the territorial 
group the Burman differs so widely from the 
Karen, the church of a hundred years from the 
village converts of the day, town from rural atti- 
tudes, that the missionary — in so far as he has any- 
thing to share— must constantly have the teacher's 
attitude of sympathetically seeking to understand 
the standpoint of the taught. The first study of 
the teacher is the pupil. The individual men or 
g roU p — their needs and nurture at the time — must 
be centric. There must be the recognition in 
actual practice that truest growth is from within and 
not from the absorption of ready-made ideas ; that 
groups like individuals are to be creative and that 
it is activity and shouldering of responsibility that 
develops. Educational provision must be made for 
them to be actors rather than merely acted upon. 
Grant that a strictly educational procedure may not 
produce at once the same results in converts as 
would a Mission centered system organized primar- 
ily for evangelization ; but nowhere are educational 
institutions expected to turn out material as rapidly 
as factories. The effort to apply educational princi- 
ples may not be easy in every case ; but the facing 
of problems with a progressive open mind is better 
in the end than a blind yielding to inertia or drift- 
ing with the current. The mission field today calls 



278 ADMINISTRATIVE DEVOLUTION 

for men with a double share of self-effacement, 
men who can be patient with the mistakes that go 
with growth, men who can bear to see a task half 
done if it represents the honest best of their new- 
found friends and even though uneducative inter- 
ference would have brought perfection. The de- 
mand is for true educators. 

And of Personal Attitudes. And this leads us 
to the second word, viz., that in the last analysis the 
solution lies in the personal realm as well as in 
the realm of methodology. There may be very little 
in the system. Even where there is a pure autoc- 
racy when the man at the head has right attitudes 
there may be in fact autonomy. And on the other 
hand one of the most painful things is to see the 
success with which a man of dominating type can 
subvert a system distinctly projected for autonomy. 
There is little use in placing Indians here and there 
on Committees and Boards if, back in the Stations, 
in the dusty run of every-day life, spiritual fellow- 
ship and counsel in the great work is not sought and 
secured. Schemes of devolution are little more than 
possibilities for good unless the personal attitude 
which should go with the scheme is present. 
Modern educators are re-discovering what Paul 
and Pestalozzi emphasized — that the relationship of 
love is all-important. With this, success may come 
with the worst of methods; without it, the best 
may fail. The man is more than the method, as 
has been so abundantly exemplified in India's noble 
list of missionaries. 

In these two realms — technique and attitude — 
the solution lies. There is no short cut to the 



CONCLUSION 279 

accomplishment of the great goal. Stubborn facts 
of social heritage both on the part of missionary 
and people make impossible any easy copying of 
another's polity or another's method. But one may 
count with scientific certainty on slow sure results 
from an application of world experience to the con- 
crete situation; from the utilization of the results 
of sound psychology and education; from conclu- 
sive thinking producing policies clear-cut and based 
on principle ; from careful provision for the execu- 
tion of principles when once evolved; and crown- 
ing all from the self-effacing attitude of the great 
Teacher. 



ABCFM 

HARATHI 



ABFMS 



im 



ma 



_sd 



M 



5d 



CD COMMITTEE 



JOINT SESSION 



ED. WORK 



WM] 



CONSULT. MEM. 
OF MISSION 



INDIANS IN CHARGE 



OF DISTRICTS 



ECCLESIASTICAL 



DEVOLUTION 



DDDD 



a 



□ 
a. 
a 

-Q- 



D 

n 
a 



m 



DD 



m 



D 



RES. CH. ,n O.S.A. 

PANJAB 



R C in A MEC 



ARCOT 



PLAN FOR CONTROL BTPRES. 



SUPERVISION 



7 ^r 

YjPRES. 



INDIANS ON 

COMMITTEES 

GRANT-IN-AID 



CONSULT. MEM. 



CF MISSION 



t 



DISSOLUTION 
OF 



MISSION 



1 



GEN. 
ASSEM. 



m 



OTHER 

PFfES 

BODIES 



PRES. 
ALLIANCE 




I_ 



CONG 



CENTJ 



CONF. 



SYNOD 



PRES. 



t 



INDIVIDUAL MISSIONARIES 

pp. I95—6; l66. 



ORGANIZED MISSIONS 
Chap. IV. 



. INDEP. CONGREGATIONS 

LI pp. 42~49> II2 > I 3 I » 2 - 



n 



INDEP. INDIAN CH. 
DMSS. NOT VOTING 



pp. 116-122. 



DEPEND. INDIAN CH. DD _ - __ 
MISS. VOTING pp * I4 ^ 173 ' 



I 



INDEP. INDIAN CH. DD iqo -« r l6o . 
MUSS. VOTING pp * I5 °^ 57 ' l6 °' x 



v TRANSITIONAL ORG. pp- 223-7. 



Chap. VI. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

All references to authorities in the preceding pages 
have been made by numbers. These numbers are found 
below in heavy-faced type. The integral portion of any 
reference indicates the particular source possessing that 
number. The decimal portion indicates the individual 
reference under that source. 



THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 
FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS 

i. Annual Reports of the American Board of Commis- 
sioners for Foreign Missions. 1810-1913. 

1.10 1848 : 75. 

1.11 1912 : 144. 

1.12 1913 : 149. 

1.13 1836 : 108. 

1.2 1856 : 52. 

1.3 Cf. 1888/.; also 112.1. 

1.4 1848 : 63. 

1.5 1848 : 64. 

1.6 1856 : 57. 

1.7 1904 : 91. 

1.8 1874 : 42. 

1.9 1911 : 149; 2.11. 

2. Minutes of the American Marathi Mission. (Contained 
amongst seventeen volumes of letters and documents, 
mainly manuscript, 1838-1914.) 

281 



282 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

2.10 Minutes, Jan., 1845: "Resolved that (four 

Indians) be appointed deacons of the 
Mission Church." 

2.11 Apr., 1914. 

2.12 Oct., 1895. 

2.13 Jan., 1902; Jan., 1904. 

2.14 Apr., 1909. 

2.15 Apr., 1912. 

2.16 May, 1889, Res. 9. 

2.17 May, 1892; May, 1895; May, 1896. 

2.18 Oct., 1905, Res. 29; Oct., 1906. 

2.19 Apr., 1910; Oct., 1912; Apr., 1914. 

2.20 Oct., 1895, Res. XIII. 

2.21 Apr., 1909. 

2.22 Apr., 1914; Oct., 1914. 

2.23 May, 1892; May, 1897. 

2.24 Oct., 1910. 

2.25 Nov., 191 1. 

2.26 Oct., 1909. 

2.3 Oct., 1912, Res. 65. 

2.4 Oct., 1912, Res. 64. 

2.5 Oct., 1910. 

2.6 Oct., 1890. 

2.7 Oct., 1864, Res. 9. 

2.8 May, 1897. 

2.9 May, 1892. 

3. Minutes of the American Madura Mission. (Con- 
tained amongst fifteen volumes of letters and docu- 
ments, mainly manuscript, 1838-19 14.) 

3.10 Documents, Vol. I (1846-59), p. 30. Cf. 17.2. 

3.11 Minutes, May, 1894. 

3.12 Minutes, Sept., 1898. 

3.13 Minutes, Sept., 1903. 

3.14 Minutes, Jan., 1910. 

3.2 Documents, Vol. I (1846-59), p. 116. 

3.3 Minutes, May, 1889, Res. 10. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 283 



3.4 


Minutes, Sept., 1894, p. 36. 


3.5 


Minutes, Jan., 1899. 


3.6 


Minutes, Sept., 1904. 


3.7 


Minutes, Sept., 1905. 


3.8 


Minutes, Sept., 191 1. 


3.9 


Minutes, Jan., 1896. 


4. The Annual Reports of the American Marathi Mission. 


1826-1 


913. 


4.10 


Cf. 1868. 


4.11 


1904 : 7. 


4.12 


1910 : 35; also 2.24. 


4.2 


1865 : 63. 


4.3 


1865 : 65. 


4.4 


1907 : 53; 1908 : 12. 


4.5 


1865 : 5, 61; Cf. 16.4; 2.7. 


4.6 


1904 : 4. 


4.7 


i860 : 1. 


4.8 


1895 : n. 


4.9 


1909 : 36-41; 1902 : 5; also 2.13. 


5. The Annual Reports of the American Madura Mission 


1876-1 


9 X 3- 


5.10 


Cf. 1856. 


5.11 


1910 : 5. 


5.12 


1911 : 13-17- 


5.13 


1912 : 13-15- 


5.14 


1913 : 24. 


5.15 


1913 • 35- 


5:2 


1896 : 2, 5. 


5.3 


1900 : 115. 


5.4 


1907 : 4- 


5.5 


1869 : 4. 


5.6 


1853 : 27. 


5.7 


1894 : 4; 3.11. 


5.8 


1902 : 7; 113.9; 113.11. 


5.9 


1910 : 1. 



284 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

6. The Annual Reports of the American Ceylon Mission. 

6.1 1904 : 6; Cf. 1905 : 20. 

7. Reports and Letters Connected with Special Meetings 

of the Marathi and Tamil Missions oi the American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 1855. 

7.10 Cf. the index and discussions in this volume. 

7.11 Arcot Mission, p. 10. 

7.12 Arcot Mission, p. 20. 

7.13 Marathi Mission, p. 47, 55; also 12.7. 

7.2 Marathi Mission, p. 47. Cf. also 12.1. 

7.3 Ceylon Mission, p. 37. 

7.4 Madura Mission, p. 32. 

7.5 Ceylon Mission, p. 9. 

7.6 Ceylon Mission, p. 109. 

7.7 Marathi Mission, p. 44. 

7.8 Marathi Mission, p. 85. 

7.9 Marathi Mission, p. 45; 14.2. 

8. Constitution, By-laws and Regulations of the American 

Marathi Mission. Poona, 1904. 

8.1 p. 5, 7; edition, 1876, p. 68. 

8.2 p. 25. 

9. Constitution, Laws and Regulations of the American 

Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Bos- 
ton, 1835. 

10. Constitution of the Madura Church Union. (Pamphlet 

without date.) 
10.1 Art. III. 

11. Missionary Paper, No. 1. A. B. C. F. M. Outline of 

the Plan on which the Missions of the Board are to 
be prosecuted. Boston, 1838. 
11.1 p. 7. Cf. 1.13. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 285 

12. Memorial Volume of the First Fifty Years. American 

Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 
Rufus Anderson. Boston, 1862. 

12.1 p. 226. 

12.2 p. 283 fT. 

12.3 p. 290. 

12.4 p. 295. 

12.5 p. 290, 293; also 4.6; 5.3; 16.3; 17.4; on the 
other hand cf. 2.1. 

12.6 p. 293. 

12.7 p. 225. 

13. Anderson Rufus. Foreign Missions, Their Relations 

and Claims. New York, 1869. 
13.1 p. 159. 

14. Anderson Rufus. History of the Missions of the Amer- 

ican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 
in India. Boston, 1874. 

14.1 p. 297. 

14.2 p. 245. 

14.3 p. 262. 

14.4 p. 254. 

15. The Story of the American Board. William E. Strong. 

The Pilgrim Press. Boston, 1910. 
15.1 p. 320. 



16. 


The Centennial 


Volume 


of 


the 


American 


Marathi 




Mission. A. H. Clark. 


Poona, 


1913. 






16.1 


p. 78. 














16.2 


pp. 96- 


■99. 












16.3 


P- 57- 














16.4 


p. 66. 














16.5 


P- 93- 














16.6 


p. 41. 














16.7 


p. 92. 













17.1 


P- 


17.2 


P- 


17.3 


P- 


17.4 


P- 


175 


P- 


17.6 


P- 


17.7 


P 


17.8 


P 


17.9 


P 



286 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

17. Chandler, John S. Seventy-five Years in the Madura 

Mission. Madras, 1913. 

205. 

206. 

197. 

199-201. 

206. 

180. 

37o. 

37i. 

18. Letter from Secretary Barton to the Presbyterian 

Board, Feb. 16, 1891. 

19. Letter of the Secretary of Madura Mission to American 

Board, Sept. 30, 1899. 

20. Letter from Dr. J. P. Jones to Dr. Arthur J. Brown, 

August, 1 914. 

THE AMERICAN BAPTIST FOREIGN MISSION 

SOCIETY 

21. Minutes of the Executive Committee of the American 

Baptist Mission Society. 



21.1 


R 451, Nov. 27, 1905. 




21.2 


Apr. 29, 191 2; also 26.3. 




21.3 


1867 : E : 180; 1870 : E 


:39°; 




1872 : F : 221; 1873 : F 


478; 




1874 : G : 9; 1875 : G 


: 232; 




1877 :H : 73 ; 1878 :H 


• 253- 


21.4 


1907 : T : 197. 




21.5 


1908 : U : 66. 




21.6 


1910 : V : 376. 





22. Manual of the American Baptist Foreign Mission 
Society. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 287 

22.1 Edition of 1908, p. 34; cf. 1912, p. 22. 

22.2 Edition of 1908, p. 504. 

23. Annual Reports of the American Baptist Foreign Mis- 

sion Society. 

23.1 1884 ff., statistical tables. 

23.2 1910 : 211. 

23.3 1889 : 7. 

23.4 1859 : 16. 

24. Letters from the Executive Committee of the Baptist 

Foreign Mission Society to the Telegu Mission Con- 
ference. 

24.1 Nov. 24, 1900; see also 26.1. 

24.2 Nov. 25, 1902. 

24.3 May 16, 1903. 

24.4 Nov. 2$, 1913. 

24.5 Nov. 24, 1900. 

24.6 Apr. 29, 1912: cf. 21.6. 

25. Letters from the Executive Committee to the American 

Baptist Missionary Conference of Burma. 
25.1 Sept. 16, 1913. 

26. Minutes of the Annual Conference of the American 

Baptist Telegu Mission. 

26.1 1906 ff. under Report of Committee on 
" The State of the Mission." 

26.2 1907. See under " State of Mission." 

26.3 1911-12. 

26.4 Feb. 1-9, 1911. 

26.5 1907, Report, " State of the Mission." 

27. Letters from the Annual Conference of the American 

Baptist Telegu Mission to the Executive Committee 
of the American Baptist Mission Society. 

27.1 Dec. 20, 1902. 

27.2 Jan. 5, 1904. 



288 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

28. Actions of the Reference Committee of the American 

Baptist Telegu Mission. 
28.1 Apr. 22, 1907. 

29. Proceedings of the Burma Baptist Mission Conference. 

29.1 1913 : 12. 

30. Annual Report of the American Baptist Mission in 

Assam. 
30.1 1911 : 15; 1913 : 86. 

31. Report of the Educational Commission of the American 

Baptist Mission, 1908. 
31.1 p. 3. 

32. Manuscript Minutes of Nellore Station. 

32.1 Sept. 6, 1907; see also 41 and 45. 

33. A Review of Conditions, Policies, Problems and Needs 

in the Work of the American Baptist Missionary 
Union. 

33.1 p. 19. 

33.2 pp. 9-13; also 35.2. 

34. Self-support in Bassein. Carpenter C. H. Boston, 

1883. 
34.1 p. 69, 147. 

35. A Visit to Mission Conferences in Japan, China and 

the Philippine Islands. Report of Thomas S. 
Barbour. A. B. M. U., Boston, 1908. 

35.1 p. 13. 

35.2 pp. 11-12. 

35.3 p. 34. 

36. Merriam, Rev. Edmund F. The American Baptist 

Missionary Union and its Missions. Boston, 1897. 
36.1 p. 49. 

37. Merriam, Edmund F. A History of American Baptist 

Missions. Phil., 1913. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 289 

37.1 p. 271. 
37.2. p. 78. 

38. Wayland, Francis. Principles and Practices of Baptist 

Churches. New York, 1857. 
38.1 Cf. p. 177; also 39.1. 

39. Hiscox, Edward T. The New Directory of Baptist 

Churches. Philadelphia, 1906. 
39.1 p. 17, 144. 

40. Interview with Dr. Thomas S. Barbour, formerly 

Foreign Secretary to the Executive Committee of 
the American Baptist Missionary Union. 
40.1 Also interview with 43. 

41. Letter from Rev. W. L. Ferguson, D.D., to Dr. Arthur 

J. Brown, 1914. 

42. Letter from the Home Secretary to Rev. T. E. Brown, 

D.D., May 3, 1909. 

42.1 Also 43. 

43. Interview with the Home Secretary of the American 

Baptist Mission Society, Dr. F. P. Haggard, Aug., 
1914. 

44. Interview with Rev. D. A. W. Smith, D.D., veteran 

missionary in Burma. Aug., 1914. 

45. Personal letter of Dr. Jas. M. Baker, missionary of 

American Baptist Telegu Mission, to author, Aug. 
24, 1914. 

46. Baptist Missionary Magazine, 181 2-1 914. 

46.10 36 : 48. 

46.11 33 : 481. 

46.2 33 : 452. 

46.3 35 : 159. 



290 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



46.4 


39 : 209. 


46.5 


35 : 247- 


46.6 


35 • 250. 


46.7 


39 : 208; also 23.4. 


46.8 


37 • 60. 


46.9 


35 = 249. 



47. The Baptist Missionary Review. 

47.1 14 : 401 Lazarus, Rev. J. 

47.2 20 : 7-17 Gilmore, Rev. D. C, Auton- 

omy Amongst the Baptist 
Karens of Burma. 

47.3 20 : 157-60 Downie, Rev. D., D.D. Are 

We Missionaries doing All 
we can to Promote the In- 
dependence of the Native 
Church? 

47.4 20 : 224 Boggess, Rev. Wheeler. Are 

We Missionaries doing All 
we can to Promote the In- 
dependence of the Native 
Church? 

47.5 20 : 220 Ferguson, Rev. W. L., D.D. 

Are We Missionaries doing 
All we can to Promote the 
Independence of the Native 
Church? 

47.6 20 : 258 Stanton, Rev. W. A. Are We 

Missionaries doing All we can 
to Promote the Independence 
of the Native Church? 

47.7 20 : 261 Stanton, Rev. W. A. 

47.7 12 : 196 

47.8 8 : 252 

47.9 14 : 444 Cotelingam, Rev. J. P., M.A. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 291 

THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN U.SA. 



48. Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 


Church ] 


jq the United States of America. 183 5-1 9 14. 


48.10 


1876 : 95. 


48.11 


1887 : 21. 


48.12 


1887 : 23. 


48.13 


1900 : 95-7. 


48.14 


1899 : 118-122. 


48.15 


1901 : 118-119. 


48.16 


1905 * 313-314. 


48.17* 


1903 : 170. 


48.18 


1904 : 178. 


48.19 


1905 Report of Com. on For. Miss., p. 3, 6. 


48.20 


1877 : 588. 


48.21 


Financial Tables, 189 5-1 902. 


48.22 


Financial Tables, 1903-4. 


48.23 


1914 : 260. 


48.24 


1914 : 261. 


48.25 


1914 : 448-45, Item 8. 


48.26 


1876 : 79. 


48.27 


1877 Appendix, p. 139. Cf. also 1879 : 620. 


48.28 


1879 : 620. 


48.29 


1886 : 54. 


48.30 


1896 : 119. 


48.31 


1887 : 21 ff. 


48.32 


1901 : 167-8. 


48.33 


1898 : 73- 


48.34 


1887 : 26. 


48.35 


1838 : 42. 


48.36 


1882 : 96, 7. 


48.37 


1887 : 25. 


48.4 


1902 : 153. 


48.5 


1904 : 84. 



292 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



48.6 


1877 : Appendix, p. 137. 


48.7 


1887 : 18-19. 


48.8 


1886 : 54. 


48.9 


1887 : 21. 


49. Minutes of the American Presbyterian Board of Foreign 


Missions. 


49.10 


Mar. 5, 1888, p. 332. 


49.11 


Jan. 20, 1902. 


49.12 


Dec. 15, 1913. 


49.13 


Oct. 20, 1913. 


49.14 


July 3, 1848. 


49.2 


Mar. 20, 1893. 


49.3 


Nov. 7, 1892. 


49.4 


Dec. 4, 1899. 


49.5 


Oct. 20, 1913. 


49.6 


Vol. 1897-8, p. 128. 


49.7 


1903-4; 294. 


49.8 


Mar. 5, 1888, p. 332. 


49.9 


Jan. 2, 191 2. 









50. Reports of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Pres- 
byterian Church in U. S. A. 1833-1913. 

50.1 Cf. Statistical tables for 1913, 1914. 

50.2 Cf. Statistical tables for 1904. 

50.3 1866 : 22. 

50.4 1869 : 28. 

50.5 1866-21. 

50.6 1884 : 79-81. 

51 Manuals of the Board of Foreign Missions of the 
Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. For the Use of 
Missionaries and Missionary Candidates. 

51.1 Edition of 1862 : 6. 

51.2 Edition of 1873 : 7. 

51.3 Edition of 1904, 1906, 1910, 1912, Sec. 38* 

51.4 Edition of 1873 : 7. 

51.5 Edition of 1889 : 15. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



293 



51.6 Edition of 1889 : 16. 

51.7 Edition of 1894 : 13. 

51.8 Edition of 1894 : 24; 191 2 : 44. 

52. Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Pan jab Mission. 
52.10 1872 : 14, 15, 20; 1874 : 10; 1877 : 10, 22; 
1878 : 13, 20, 30; 1880 : 12, 15, 21-25; 
1881 : 7; 1882 : 28; 1884 : 12; 1886 : 8, 
19; 1887 : 7, 21; 1888 : 15; 1890 : 
Appendix; 1892 : Appendix. 



53< 



52.11 


1898 : 13. 


52.12 


1900 : 9. 


52.13 


1887 : 7, 21; 1890, Appendix. 


52.14 


1888 : 15. 


52.15 


1908 : 49. 


52.16 


1910, p. 14 (manuscript). 


52.17 


1911 • 55- 


52.18 


1906 : 17. 


52.19 


1908 : 48. 


52.20 


1877 : 10, 22. 


52.21 


1913 : 28. 


52.22 


1913 : 29, 30, 36. 


52.23 


1898 : 27. 


52.24 


1909 : 15. 


52.25 


1913 : 3°- 


52.26 


1872 : 14, 15. 


52.3 


1878 : 30. 


52.4 


1878 : 20. 


52.5 


1880 : 37-40 Cf. manuscript. 


52.6 


1890 : Appendix. 


52.7 


1878 : 20. 


52.8 


1870 : 18. 


52.9 


1889 : 14. 


inutes of the Annual Meetings of the North India 


Mission 




53.1 


1907 : 20. 


53.2 


1909 manuscript. 



294 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

54. Minutes of the Annual Meetings of the Western India 

Mission. 1893-19 13. 

54.1 1895, p. 21 of manuscript. 

54.2 1897 t 4, 8 (manuscript). 

54.3 1896; also in its Constitution and Rules, 

1897, 1903 : 38. 

55. The Annual Report of the Panjab Mission. 1871-1913. 

55.1 1913 : iii, 89; 64.7. 

56. Lowrie, John C. A Manual of the Foreign Missions 

of the Prebsyterian Church in the United States 
of America. New York, 1868. 

56.1 p. 28. 

56.2 p. 102. 

56.3 p. 28. 

57. Lowrie, John C. Missionary Papers. New York. 

1882. 

57.1 pp. 238, 243. This paper first appeared in the 

Princeton Review, Apr., 1864. 

57.2 p. 357. 

57.3 p. 355. 

57.4 pp. 394-7. 

57.5 pp. 236, 7, 360-66, 233-55, 345-59- 

58. Historical Sketches of the Indian Missions of the 

Presbyterian Church in U. S. A. Allahabad, 1886. 
58.1 p. 67-68; cf. 56.2. 

59. Report of Dr. Gillespie on his Visit to the Missions in 

India. Board of Foreign Missions of the Presby- 
terian Church in U. S. A. 1891. 

59.1 p. 20. 

59.2 Paper D. 

59.3 Document E., p. 21 (manuscript). 

60. Questions Relating to Policy and Methods in Foreign 

Missions. Pamphlet. Board of Foreign Missions 
of the Pres. Ch. in U. S. A. 1895. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 295 

61. Official Letter to Mexican Mission by the Board of 

Foreign Missions, June 15, 1908. 

62. Proceedings of the Councils of the Presbyterian Al- 

liance. 

63. Confessions, Constitution and Canons of the Presby- 

terian Church in India as adopted by the General 
Assembly, 1904, Allahabad, 1905. 

63.1 Art. n. 

63.2 Art. 13, 14. 

64. Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 

Church in India. 

64.1 1913 : 61. 

64.2 1913 : 13, 16. 

64.3 1913 : table F. 

64.4 1913 : statistical tables. 

64.5 1906-7 :g; Cf. 77 7. 

64.6 i909-io;.i9i 1; 1913. 

64.7 1913 .-37 

65. Speer, Robert E. Report on the Japan Missions of 

the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. 1897. 
65.1 pp. 40-47. 

66. Speer, Robert E. Report on the China Missions of 

the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. 1897. 
66.1 pp. 36-37- 

67. Brown, Arthur Judson. Report on the Second Visit 

to China, Japan and Korea, 1909. 

67.1 p. 130. 

67.2 pp. 128-132. 

67.3 p. 131. 

68. Findings of the Conference of Rev. Stanley White, 

D.D., with the Western India Mission, December 
18-21, 1912. 



296 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

68.1 p. 5. 

68.2 p. 6. 

69. Minutes of the Conference of Representatives of the 

Panjab, North India and Western India Missions of 
the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., with Dr. Stanley 
White. Allahabad, 1913. 

69.1 p. 36 (d). 

69.2 p. 26 (e). 

69.3 pp. 25-28. 

70. Open letter to " The Missions " in behalf of the Board 

of Foreign Missions sent out July 15, 1914. p. 3. 

71. Interview with Dr. Robert E. Speer, Secretary of the 

Board. 

72. Private letter from Dr. H. D. Griswald, Secretary of 

the Presbyterian Missions in India, Aug. 20, 19 14. 
See also Chapter II, Section on Presbyterians, 
under " Present Practice and Trend for the Future." 

73. Letter from Rev. K. C. Chatterjee, D.D. 

73.1 Sept. 29, 1905. 

73.2 Aug. 12, 1 9 14, to author. 

74. Letter of Dr. Robert E. Speer to Dr. J. J. Lucas, 

Aug. 3, 1911. 

75. Paper read by Kan war Raghbir Singh, Extra Assistant 

Settlement Officer, at a meeting of Lahore Presby- 
tery, Mar. 29, 1914. 

76. The Foreign Missionary. 

76.1 Apr., 1866, p. 278; 50.5. 

77. The Indian Standard. — Organ of the Presbyterian 

Church in India. Vol. 14-24. 

77.1 Apr. 19, 1905. p. 18. 

77.2 15 : 298. 

77.3 Cf. 15 : 259 ff. 

77.4 33 : 53. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



297 



78, 



77.5 


17 


•4. 








77.6 


18 


: 13-15- 








77.7 


18 


: 21. 








77.8 


22 


: 236, 273, 


297. 






Makhzan 


i Masihi. 








78.1 


48 


: 202. 








78.2 


June 15, 1911 


, p. 161; 


see 


also 77.8. 



THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE 
REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA 

79. Acts and Proceedings of the General Synod of the Re- 

formed Church in America. 1812-1913. 

227; 1863 : 333-4o; also 89.1. 
225-7. 

339-40. 

490. 

276-7. 

257. 
1099. 
103. 
474. 

80. Annual Reports of the Board of Foreign Missions of 

the Reformed Church in America. 1857-1913. 
80.1 1886 : 22. 
21. 

122-3. 
19. 
42. 

5,43- 

38; 1909 : 34-36, 

81. Constitution of the Board of Foreign Missions of the 

Reformed Church in America. 1857. 

81.1 Art. 8. 

81.2 Art. 15 of Rules. 



79.1 


1857 


79.2 


i857 


79.3 


1863 


79.4 


1864 


79.5 


1867 


79.6 


i875 


79.7 


1902 


79.8 


1902 


79.9 


1854 



80.2 


1886 


80.3 


1886 


80.4 


1881 


80.5 


1908 


80.6 


1890 


80.7 


1908 



298 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

82. Manual of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Re- 
formed Church in America. 
82.1 1909 : 33. 

S3. Report of the Committee on India to the Executive 
Committee, May 13, 1914. 
83.1 p. 4. 

84. Minutes of the Arcot Mission of the Reformed Church 

in America. 

84.1 June 7-20, 1912, p. 13. 

84.2 Dec. 31, 1913, p. 7. 

85. Annual Reports of the Arcot Mission of the Reformed 

Church in America. 

85.1 1913 : 10. 

85.2 1913 : 10; 80.6. 

85.3 1908-9; also 80.7. 

85.4 1909 : 11, 12; 1911 : 15-20; 1912 : 14-19; 

1913 : 20-30. 

85.5 1903 : 25-27; 1904 : 25, 26; 1905 : 22-24; 

1906 : 33, 37,4i; 1908 : IX, 29,32; 1909 : 
XI, 34, 36; etc. 

86. The Fundamental Principles and Rules of the Arcot 

Mission of the R. C. A. 1895. 
86.1 p. 24. 

87. Scheme of Organic Union of the Native Churches in 

South India approved by the Classis of Arcot, the 
United Free Presbytery of Madras, the Arcot Mis- 
sion and the United Free Church of Scotland Mission, 
April, 1 901. 

87.1 Articles 11 and 12. 

87.2 Article 13. 

88. Proceedings of the Joint Commission of the Church of 

Scotland, United Free Church of Scotland and 
American Arcot Mission. 






BIBLIOGRAPHY 299 

89. Fagg, John Gerardus. Forty Years in South China. 

New York, 1894. 

89.1 pp. 201, 202, 216, 217. 

89.2 p. 171. 

89.3 p. 210. 

89.4 p. 219. 

90. Jubilee Commemoration. 18 53-1 903. 

Arcot Mission of the Reformed Church in America. 
90.1 p. 85. 

91. Interview with Rev. Wm. I. Chamberlain, Ph.D., 

Foreign Secretary of the Reformed Church in 
America. 

92. Letter of Sec. Cobb to the Presbyterian Board. 

93. Letter from Rev. L. R. Scudder to the Board of Foreign 

Missions of the R. C. A., Jan. 29, 1914. 

94. Personal letter from Rev. J. H. Wyckoff, D.D., Aug. 

20, 1914. 

THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE 
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

95. General Conference Journal. 1848-1912. 

95.10 1908 : 945. 

95.11 1868 : 282. 

95.12 1912; 1908. 

95.13 1884 : 285, 349- 

95.14 1912 : 429, 529; 96.6. 

95.15 1908 : 520; 1892 : 471. 

95.16 1908 : 124. 

95.17 1912 : 687. 

95.18 1912 : 979. 

95.19 1908 : 950. 

95.20 1908 : 961. 



300 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



95.21 


1908 : 942. 


95.22 


1908 : 936. 


95.3 


1908 : 946. 


95.4 


1912 : 687. 


95.5 


1896 : 380; 1900 : 421 


95.6 


1892 : 438. 


95.7 


1908 : 859. 


95.8 


1913. 


95.9 


1864 : 138. 


96. The Daily Christian Advocate. 1 848-191 2. 


sued daily during each General Conference.) 


96.1 


1888 : 23. 


96.2 


1856 13:2. 


96.3 


1856, May, 17. 


96.4 


1868 : 27 : 1. 


96.5 


1868 : 23 : 2. 


96.6 


1912 : 769. 



(Is- 



97. Annual Report of the Board of Foreign Missions of the 

Methodist Episcopal Church. 1 841-19 13. 

97.1 1913 : 9. 

97.2 1880, statistical tables. 

98. Manual of the Missionary Society of the Methodist 

Episcopal Church. 

98.1 pp. 29-34; 120.6. 

98.2 p. 32. 

99. Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 191 2. 

99.1 If 41, Sec. 1. 

99.2 f 73, 336, 342. Cf. If 351. 

99.3 IT 544- 

99.4 ^ 79 Questions 26, 27. 

100. The Treasurer's Report of the Episcopal Fund for 

1913. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 301 



. Minutes of 


the Central Conference of Methodist 


Episcopal 


Church in India and Malaysia. 1892- 


1912. 




101.10 


1898 : 40. 


101.11 


1912. 


101.2 


1894 : 39. 


101.3 


1912 : 38. 


101.4 


1912 : 52. 


101.5 


1900 : 27. 


101.6 


1900 : 26. 


101.7 


1898 : 72; 1900 : 52; 1904 : 61. 


101.8 


1898 : 40. 


101.9 


1912, Table II. 



102. Report and Minutes of the North India Conference 

of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 1877-1913. 

102.1 1913, also 106.1. 

102.2 1867 : 8 (At that time called India Mission 
Annual Conference). 

102.3 1913 : 7. 

102.4 1908 : 28. 

102.5 1913; 103.1. 

102.6 1908 : 34. 

103. South India Annual Conference. 

103.1 1913. 

104. Thoburn, J. M. Missionary Apprenticeship. New 

York. 1884. 

104.1 p. 348. 

104.2 p. 46 ff. 

105. Thoburn, Bishop J. M. India and Malaysia. New 

York. 1892. 

105.1 p. 560. 

105.2 p. 540. 

105.3 p. 276. 

105.4 p. 289, 106.2. 



302 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

106. Price, Frederick B. India Mission Jubilee. Calcutta. 

1907. 

106.1 p. 150. 

106.2 p. 160. 

107. Private letter from Bishop Thoburn to Board of For- 

eign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in U. S. A., 
Feb. 19, 1901. 

108. Interview with Secretaries of the Board of Foreign 

Missions. 

109. The Christian Advocate, July 9, 1914, p. 953. 

no. The Indian Witness. Calcutta. 

110.1 Jan. 23, 1908. 

110.2 1908 : 84. 

OTHER PAPERS AND MAGAZINES 

in. The International Review of Missions. 

111.1 3 : 269. Quoted by Eugene Stock, his- 

torian of the Church Missionary Society. 

111.2 1 : 207, 8. 

111.3 3 : 523-8. 

111.4 3 : 519. 

112. The Missionary Herald. 

112.1 106 : 527. 

112.2 1857 : 306; cf. also 12.6; 17.5. 

113. The Harvest Field (Mysore, India.) 

113.10 Wyckoff, The Rev. J. H., D.D., Presby- 

terian Union in India. 13 : 1 : 13 ff. 

113.11 Aug., 1909, p. 305. 

113.12 Feb., 1914, p. 65, Raja Sir Harmon Singh. 

113.13 Jan., 1899, p. 35, Res. 1. 

113.2 Chamberlain, L. B. Union Among Our 

Missions. 17 : 7 : 273. 

113.3 Presbyterian Union. 13 : 5 : 199. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 303 

113.4 Lazarus, Rev. J. The Future Indian 

Church. 20 : 10 : 371. 

113. 5 Kingsbury, Rev. F. How Far should 

Self-Government in the Indian Church- 
es be Conditioned on Self -Support? 
21 : 2 : 54. 

113.6 Wyckoff, Rev. J. H. Has the Time come 

for our Missions to Change their 
Policy in the Matter of the Mainte- 
nance of a Paid Indian Agency? 20 : 
2 : 50. 

113.7 Harman, Rev. S. S. "The South India 

United Church." June, 191 1, p. 226. 

113.8 Maclean, Rev. J. H. Feb., 1908, p. 75. 

113.9 Nov., 1901, p. 387. 

114. The Young Men of India. 

114.1 22 : 211. Self -Government in the Mission 

Field. Henry Madras. 

114.2 Jan., 1904, p. 13. 

115. The Hindustan Review. 

115.1 July, 1913, pp. 419 ff. 
Sept., 1913, pp. 649 ff. 

116. The United Church Herald. (Organ of the South 

India United Church.) 

116.1 3:8: 313. 

116.2 2:4: 100. 

MISSION CONFERENCES 

117. Proceedings of the South India Missionary Confer- 

ence held at Ootacamund. 1858. Madras, 1858. 
117.1 p. 29; also 79.9. 

118. The Missionary Conference: South India and Ceylon, 

1879. Madras, 1880. 
118.1 Vol. II, p. 117. 



304 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

119. Report of the Third Decennial Missionary Confer- 

ence held at Bombay, 1892-3. Bombay, 1893. 

119.1 pp. 123, 127. 

119.2 p. 135. 

119.3 Paper by Rev. J. P. Jones. 

120. Manuscript Replies to Commission II, of the World 

Missionary Conference, 1910. The Church in the 
Mission Field, and Its Workers. 

120.1 No. 230, J. S. Chandler; No. 257; G. S. 

Eddy; interviews with missionaries. 

120.2 No. 275, Rev. J. Heinrichs. 

120.3 No. 287, Rev. S. V. Karmarkar. 

120.4 No. 245, J. E. Cummings, M.A., D.D. 
No. 276, A. H. Henderson. 

120.5 No. 261, Rev. W. L. Ferguson. 

120.6 No. 325, Bishop J. E. Robinson, also 120.7. 

120.7 No. 291, Rev. W. L. King. 

120.8 No. 325, Bishop J. E. Robinson. 

121. The Continuation Committee Conferences in Asia, 

1912-1913. New York, 1913. 
121.1 p. 127. 

122. Manuscript verbatim reports of the papers and dis- 

cussions in connection with the eight Continuation 
Committee Conferences in India and Ceylon during 
the winter of 191 2-1 9 13. 

122.1 Conference at Lahore, Archdeacon Ihsan 

Ullah. 

122.2 Conference at Lahore, Principal S. K. 

Rudra. 

122.3 Conference at Allahabad, Rev. J. R. 

Chitambar. 

122.5 Conference at Madras, J. Matthai. 

122.6 Conference at Allahabad, Rev. J. R. Chi- 

tambar. 






BIBLIOGRAPHY 305 

122.7 Conference at Madras, Rev. J. Lazarus. 
122.9 Conference at Allahabad, A. C. Mukerji. 

122.12 Conference at Allahabad, Prof. N. C. 

Mukerji, N. K. Mukerji, Rev. B. B. 
Roy. 

122.13 Conference at Allahabad, N. C. Mukerji. 

122.15 Conference at Bombay, Rev. Canon D. 

L. Joshi. 

122.16 Conference at Burmah, Rev. C. A. 

Nichols, D.D., Paper on " The Native 
Church," p. 7. 

123. Foreign Missions Conference of North America. 

1893-1914. 
123.1 1914 : 254. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

124. Brown, Arthur J. The Foreign Missionary. 

124.1 pp. 313-317- 

125. Chatterton, Alfred. Industrial Evolution in India. 

Madras, 191 2. 
125.1 Cf. Chapter I, The Indian Industrial 
Problem. 

126. Speer, Robert E. Christianity and the Nations- 

New York, 1910. 

126.1 p. 143. 

126.2 pp. 143-151- 

127. Minutes of the South India United Church. 1901- 

1905. 

127.1 1903 : 6. 

127.2 1905. 

127.3 1902 : 7. 



306 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

128. Minutes of the General Assembly of the South India 

United Church. 1908-1913. 

128.1 1011 : 26-35; Cf. 116.2. 

128.2 1908 : 17. 

128.3 1908 : 6. 

128.4 1911 : 26-31. 

128.5 1911 : 33. 

129. Momorandum on the Subject of Social and Official 

Intercourse between European Officers in the 
Punjab and Indians. 
129.1 p. 4. 

130. The Year Book of Missions in India. India, 191 2. 

130.1 p. 203. 

130.2 p. 209. 

130.3 p. 240. 

131. The Church in the Mission Field. Being Volume II 

of the World Missionary Conference, 1910. New 
York. 
131.1 p. 341. 

132. A Study of some Missionary Problems. Being a 

Report issued by the United Boards of Missions 
of the Provinces of Canterbury and York. London, 
1903. 

132.1 p. 41. Bishop Milne. 

132.2 p. 79. Bishop Wm. R. Tucker, Uganda. 



INDEX 



Ab extra relationship, 8ijf., 
ioo, 118. 

Administrative devolution, 
177-263, 273. 

Aikya, 117, 119. 

American Baptist Foreign 
Mission Society. Sources, 
7; attitude to independ- 
ent Church, 45jf ; ecclesi- 
astical relationship of 
missionaries, 100; ecclesi- 
astical devolution, 131- 
48; utilization of Mis- 
sion, 194-7; Indians in 
Mission, 215; administra- 
tive devolution, 244-53. 

American Board. Sources, 
6; polity, 41; theory of 
independent Church, 
42$".; ecclesisatical rela- 
tionship of its mission- 
aries, 97jf.; realization of 
ecclesiastical devolution, 
io6jf. ; utilization of Mis- 
sions, 193; Indians in 
Mission, 214; adminis- 
trative devolution, 227- 
244. 

Amoy Mission, 40J/". 



Anderson, Rufus, 44, 97, 
106, in, 113, 122, 159, 
214. 

Arbitration, Board of, 249. 

Arcot Mission, see Reformed 
Church in America. 

Assam Mission, 250. 

Assessors, 93, 97. 

Attitudes, 278. 

Bashford, Bishop, 70. 

Board of Indian Churches, 
223, 275. 

Burman Mission, see Ameri- 
can Baptist Mission So- 
ciety, Karens. 

Capitalization, 9. 
Carpenter, Rev. C. H., 143. 
Centralization, 268-70. 
Ceylon Mission, 109, in, 

114, 127, 128. 
Church-centric devolution, 

218/. 
Church on the Mission Field, 

15-6. 
Church Organization, 46, 

134. 
J Conclusion, 264-79. 

307 



308 



INDEX 



Consultative members of 
Mission, 212, 213, 241, 

255. 
Continuation Committee 

Conferences. Sources, 8; 
testimony from, 17/., 143? 
205, 214. 
Converts. Social status of, 
27. 

Devolution. The word, 5; 
influences against, 2ijf.; 
problem of, 36; ecclesi- 
astical, 40-173; admin- 
istrative, 176-263, 273. 
plans of, 218-61; in 
educational work, 240, 
251, 256; a problem in 
education, 276-8. 

Dissolution of Mission, 177- 
200, 274. 

District Conference, 229, 

275. 

Ecclesiastical, devolution, 
41$*.; devolution realized 
in practice, 106, 173; 
organizations, 108, 116, 
122; relationship of Mis- 
sionaries, 8off., 125, 129, 
148, 153, 157, 160, 272, 
see also intra muros, db 
extra. 

Ecumenical ideal, 69. 

Education, devolution in, 
240, 251, 256. 



Educational principles, 15, 
34; re ecclesiastical re- 
lations, 80-82, 118; re 
Indian membership in 
Missions, 204, 208; in- 
volved in devolution, 276- 
8. 

Euthanasia. The word, 5; 
the problem, 36. 

Expectancy, lack of, 24. 

Finance, 24, 151, 152, 170, 
224, 235, 263. 

General Union, see Aikya. 

Independence, see self-gov- 
ernment. 

Indian agents, 28. 

Indians, members of Mis- 
sion, 201-17, 274. 

Indian opinion as to malad- 
justment, iojf.; as to 
paternalism, 23; as to 
self-government, 27, 29; 
imposition of western 
standards, 33, 35; as to 
place of missionary, 156; 
membership in Mission, 
203. 

Indian representation, 
154/., 162-70, 232, 241- 
3, 255-7. See consulta- 
tive members of Mis- 
sion. 



INDEX 



309 



Intra muros relationship, 
Sqff.; practiced by Pres- 
byterian Missions, 83$., 
151, 152, 154. 

Jaffna Mission, see Ceylon 

Mission. 
Japan. Setting precedent 

for Meth. Epis. Ch., 74, 

102. 
Joint Sessions, 241-3. 

Karens, 143, 146, 251. 

Lowrie, Dr. John C, as to 
independent Church, 
59jf.; ecclesiastical rela- 
tionship, 84; dissolution 
of Mission, 170JF. 

Madura Mission, ecclesias- 
tical organizations, 108; 
ordinations ; 114, 122, 
128; administrative de- 
volution, 227. 

Maladjustment, 16$*., 62. 

Marathi Mission, in, 112, 
116, 122, 237. 

Methodist Episcopal 
Church. Sources, 8; at- 
titude to independent 
Church, 69-79; to ecclesi- 
astical relationship of mis- 
sionaries, 101; realization 
of ecclesiastical devolu- 
tion, 162-73; no use of 



Missions, 198-9; Indians 
as missionaries, 215. 

Missionaries, as superin- 
tendents, 28 ; ecclesias- 
tical relationship of, 8oJf., 
272; complex nature of 
work, 264. 

Mission-centric devolution, 

218/. 

Missionary Councilor, 240. 

Missions, defined, 15; not 
found in Methodist Epis- 
copal missions, 101; dis- 
solution of, 177-99, 274; 
Indian membership in, 
201-17, 274. 

Native. The word, 5. 
North India Mission, 213, 

257. 
Nundy, Rev. Gopi Nath, 

210. 

Ordination, hesitation in, 
111-16, 131; limited, 
153; by Methodists, 165. 

Ownership, temptation to, 
30. 

Panchayat, 25, 250. 

Panjab Mission, 213, 253. 

Pastorate, Missionaries act- 
ing in, 24; on fixed salary, 
33; ordination, in. 

Paternalism, influence of, 22. 

Pioneering, influences of, 21. 



310 



INDEX 



Polity, Congregational, 41; 

Baptist, 45; influence of, 

267. 
Presbyterian Alliance, 63, 

68, 151. 

Presbyterian Church in 
India, formed, 69; mis- 
sionary relationship to, 
95, 153; formation, 150. 

Presbyterian Church in 
U. S. A. Sources, 8; at- 
titude to independent 
Church, 59/-; ecclesias- 
tical relationship of mis- 
sionaries, 83/.; ecclesi- 
astical devolution, 1 48 ; 
Mission, 178; Indians in 
Mission, 209; adminis- 
trative devolution, 253- 

63. 
Presbytery, devolution to, 

177-200, 253-55. 

Problem of book, 36. 

Reformed Church in 
America. Sources, 8; at- 
titude to independent 
Churches, 48/.; ecclesi- 
astical relationship of mis- 
sionaries, 97; ecclesias- 
tical devolution, 158-62; 
utilization of Missions, 
193; Indians in Mission, 



213; administrative devo- 
lution, 219-26. 
Representative Pastors, 227. 

Self-government. Unde- 
veloped capacity for, 25; 
ideal in various Societies, 
41-79; progress in realiz- 
ing, 106-73, 207, 224-5. 

Self-support. Lack of ex- 
pectancy, 25/.; delayed, 
35; 152, 207, 224-5, 235. 

Social status of converts, 
27. 

Sources, 6-9. 

South India United Church, 
128/., 160. 

Stuntz, Bishop, 77. 

Talmage, Dr., 52. 

Telegu Mission, i34jf-> 138, 

146, 215, 246. 
Thoburn, Bishop, 72-6. 
Transitory organizations, 

219/., 275- 
Tucker, Bishop Wm. R., 

208. 
Venn, Henry, 43. 

Western India Mission, 

150, 157, 213, 259. 
Woman's Work, 182, 199. 



Printed in the United States of America. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Sept. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 667 455 



